Katzen Blut
by splattermusic
Summary: Kerry's just a teenager, she's always late to class, she has the hugest crush in the world, and she isn't very athletic. But what happens when she rescues a cat, one with green and brown eyes and he 'claims' to be a prince. TCR with real life people.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! I'm splattermusic and I'm new to Fanfiction. I've read Fanfictions for a few years and probably I'll suck at it but here I am! Please tell me if I have any spelling mistakes, errors and please inform me on how I can be a better writer. I don't get mad at criticism, in fact I enjoy it, then I can be a better writer so, on with the fic! This story is parody on my life. It has the concept of The Cat Returns because I thought the story really fit with my life. Every character is based on someone in my life and how I see them. Though there are some new characters that I added to better suit my life. See if you can guess who I am. When the story is done, I'll reveal who I am. Of course, I won't reveal who the other characters are (except a few) due to privacy reasons. And despite being a parody, this story is not completely funny.  
**

**Oh yeah the disclaimer**

**splatterpaint does not own the concept of The Cat Returns or its characters, though I wish I do  
**

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_Beep!_

_ Beep!_

_ Beep!_

"Arrgh!"

She groaned as she trudged out her bed, slapping her alarm clock on the way to the bathroom. Brushing her teeth with one hand while tying up her raven-black hair with the other, she looked lazily at the clock. "Crap! It's 7:30!"

She raced downstairs, dressing in her uniform as she went. She grabbed her satchel of endless papers and darted past her mother as her mom yelled, "Kerry! You have to eat something for breakfast! Come on, eat some toast!"

Her mother slowly crunched into the golden bread smothered in jam, she laughed, "It's delicious!"

Whimpering, Kerry glared at her mom, and ran out the door, only to turn her head back and yell, "Now that's just cruel!"

She ran across town, clumsily dodging every bench, trash can, and stroller in her way. She stopped to wait for a group of joggers to pass by, _"Come on! I only have...THREE MINUTES!"_

Quickly sprinting toward her school, then to her classroom, she snaked through the open door, tiptoeing behind the studying class… "Kerry, we all know you're trying to sneak in so please save yourself the trouble and just sit down."

As heat rose to her cheeks, she obediently sat in her assigned seat, trying to ignore the snickers around her. Though she couldn't, she shyly looked around and saw Josiah Marsh laughing the loudest. _"Oh please, anyone but him, please don't laugh, why did it have to be you?"_

* * *

"Oh, come on Kerry, it wasn't that bad!"

"It wasn't that bad? You laughed too! You also saw Josiah! It's like he stabbed me through the heart!"

Annabeth laughed, "Well, you have to admit, it was pretty funny how Mr. Daniels knew you were sneaking in without even turning around."

Annabeth swung her lacrosse stick to throw the ball to another player. Even though she was playing lacrosse at school, Annabeth could still talk without losing concentration, nothing could stop her from talking. Compared to Kerry, Annabeth was a goddess; she had long, wavy, golden hair and fair skin, and the perfect body from playing sports all the time. Kerry had short, straight, black hair. She had a very thin, feeble body due to the lack of sports influence in her life. Kerry sighed as she took out knitting needles to finish her scarf. _"At least Annabeth can't do this," _she thought.

"LOOK OUT!"

Kerry screamed as the ball ricocheted off the wall and onto her head. _"Well at least they had the decency to actually use wiffle ball this time."_

She threw the ball back weakly and Annabeth walked out of the field to retrieve the thrown ball.

"Nice throw"

* * *

Annabeth swung her lacrosse stick which had lazily landed on her shoulder. She stared into the infinity of blue skies, she spoke plainly, "You know, you have to tell him someday."

"Yeah but what if he doesn't like me back? He'll laugh in my face!"

"Yeah but what if he does like you? He'll take you in his arms and swing you around, saying you're the best thing that has ever happened to him."

She dropped her lacrosse stick and swung her body around she danced a waltz in a rhythmic manner. To any normal passerby, she would look crazy, dancing a dance that required two people on the sidewalk in the middle of a busy street. To Kerry, she was being her normal self.

Annabeth giggled, "You know he has a girlfriend—a freshman!"

Kerry stood opened-mouthed, "Annabeth!" she laughed as she yelled, "You. Jerk!"

Kerry picked up the lacrosse stick and playfully swung at her ditsy friend.

As Annabeth dodged her blows, Kerry looked past her, spotting a tan, short-haired cat with black socks. He seemed ordinary enough, except for the gold collar around his neck._ "Wow, someone must really love their cat."_

That was not the only strange thing, for the cat was carrying a box wrapped around in a blue cloth.

"Hey, Annabeth, look at that cat, what do you think he's doing?"

They both stopped and stared at the cat as it halted by the crosswalk; it looked back and forth, and then proceeded to walking across the street.

Annabeth quipped, "Maybe it's a cat burglar."

"Hmmm," Kerry answered thoughtlessly.

_Honk!_

_ Honk!_

Annabeth looked at the huge moving truck, "Hopefully the cat gets out of the way in time."

Then, Kerry glanced at the cat, at the rate it was going; it could easily go across the street without being run over by the truck. Suddenly, the cat dropped its package. Dumbly enough, the cat attempted to pick the package back up, unknowing of the danger it was in. Kerry stared wide-eyed for the cat had dropped the box upside down; it needed to flip the box over to be able to pick it back up. The cat nudged the box effortlessly trying to flip it over. Kerry looked at the truck, _"No way can the driver see something that low to the ground!"_

Quickly, Kerry ran out onto the street. "Kerry! You are crazy!"

She didn't listen. Adrenaline rushed through her veins as she scooped the cat and its package with the lacrosse stick and jumped majestically out of the trucks way. She then clumsily landed on her stomach into a bush, as she looked up to see the cat getting out of the broken lacrosse stick onto its hind legs, and began brushing itself off…

The cat smiled warmly at her. "Thank you for saving my life, I owe you my greatest gratitude."

Respectively to its regal, collected voice, he placed his paws together and bowed, "I am eternally grateful."

He got down to all fours again, picked up his package and darted off. Annabeth ran out into the middle of the street, "You idiot! Watch where you're going!"

Honking cars whizzed past Annabeth as she ran to her dear friend. "Kerry! What the hell is wrong with you! You could have died!"

"Th-the cat, it spoke to me!"

Annabeth put her hand on Kerry head, "Come on Kerry, don't be silly, we can only afford one crazy person in this friendship."

Kerry looked past Annabeth and glanced at the cat whom she had just saved. He was sitting at the corner of the street, nodded his head approvingly, and disappeared behind a building.

She thought about what had just happened, _"A cat just spoke to me! Cats can speak! Or can I understand cats? I've never been near a cat long enough to actually talk to it. Except for one cat but I don't think she talked. Well that's not hard to believe since I don't remember anything about that cat except for its beautiful, almond brown eyes… Now that I think about it, that cat had brown **and** green eyes!"_

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**Hope you like it, please, some comments and reviews. I will gladly appreciate it. And please tell whether or not you like my style. I know the story so far is very similar to The Cat Returns but later on, it will start to differ.**

**-splatterpaint  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay! Second chapter! Please review, is it too plain, does it need more description? Any kind of comments are fine. In this chapter, I decided to make Kerry seem more like who she's based off of, personality-wise.**

**splattermusic does not own the concept of The Cat Returns and its characters  
**

**

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Kerry looked up at the sky. She thought, though words raced through her mind like bullets, ricocheting off the sides of her cerebrum, and they hurt just as much. She tightened her eyes and grimaced. Annabeth looked worriedly at her friend.

"Whoa girl, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kerry replied in a monotone voice.

Annabeth frowned at her friend, "Are you sure you didn't hit your head?"

"Yes, I'm positive, now may I please enter my home?"

Without realizing it, Annabeth and Kerry had already arrived at the latter's house. Annabeth bit her lip as she started for her own home. She outstretched her arm, dropping the remains of her beloved lacrosse stick into a random trashcan.

"Call me later; I want to make sure you are okay."

"Will do!" Kerry faked a smile and as soon as Annabeth disappeared around the corner, the corner of her lips dropped like a stack of weights. _'Why did Annabeth have to be so freaking nosy?"_

She trudged up the steps of her front porch and stopped in front of the house, it was simple enough. It was a two story house, yet it had less space than a house with one story. She foraged through her satchel and finally located her key. She inserted metal into metal and opened the door. "Hi Mom, how was the meeting?"

Her mother looked up from the laptop, "Hmmm. Dinner's in the fridge. It's from the cafeteria at the building the meeting took place."

Kerry reached into the refrigerator, past by numerous unopened food containers and she grabbed the green plastic container.

"Ugh, salad again? Mom, can you buy something else from the cafeteria next time? We aren't rabbits."

"Well you could always get something else from the fridge," Kerry's mom's eyes were still glued onto the computer screen.

_"I'll just skip dinner, she'll never notice anyways."_

* * *

Kerry splashed water onto her face and she looked at the mirror. She stared at her big brown eyes and black hair. _"Hmm, didn't that cat also have black fur and brown eyes? Well, one brown eye and partially black fur."_

She changed into her old matching spring green pajamas, grabbed her knitting bag and headed downstairs. She plopped next to her mother as the staid woman continued typing. She nonchalantly started to knit and her mind drifted away. _"Who was that cat? What was in that box anyways? It must have been really important to almost die over."_

Her mind returned to a conscious state and she asked the simple question, "Mom, do you think cats can talk?"

"Mmm-hmm," her mom replied, without thinking. Then her mind slowly realized what her daughter had just said, "Wait—what?"

Kerry's mother had already folded away her laptop and charger and sat on the couch, finally relaxing, "You know, you thought cats talked when you were younger too."

"I did?"

"Yeah, but you were only three years old."

* * *

_Kerry smiled as she threw another miniature sushi roll into her mouth. She skipped along and grabbed another one of the tightly rolled finger foods. Her smile was ear to ear and it was completely full of innocence_

"Meow!"

_Kerry looked back and saw a smoky grey kitten covered in dirt from its head to its paws. She smiled down at the kitten and she set her little box on the ground. "Here kitty, do you want some sushi?"_

"Meow!"

_The kitten proceeded to eat. Kerry gently stroked the kitten's matted fur, the kitten's fur was several shades darker than its original light grey, "You're really dirty kitty."_

_This time, the kitten was too busy eating to answer. Kerry slowly pulled the blue bandanna which had been covering the box the whole time. She wrapped the bandanna around the kitten's neck, "There, now you're prettier!"_

_This time, the kitten looked up and, "_Meow!

""_Kerry! It's time to go," Her mother motioned her to get going._

_Kerry jumped excitedly as she ran towards her mother, she yelled, "Mommy! Mommy! I talked to the kitten!"_

_ "And what did the kitten say?"_

* * *

"And you know what you said?" Kerry's mother laughed, "You said 'Life is tough.'"

Kerry stared at the ceiling, leaning against the wall, _"So I __**can**__ talk to cats."_

_

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_**There! Done, remember, if my story is bad, please let me know, I'm a newbie at writing so it's not my fault (well, technically it is) but I am new so don't blame me!**

_-_**splattermusic**_  
_


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, the last chapter was short so I made this one longer than usual. And due to a request, I started to make this story differ from The Cat Returns plot. It will start to differ even more in the next chapter. **

**splatterpaint does not own the concept or characters of The Cat Returns**

_

* * *

Kerry swung herself around giggling at the heavenly area. She stopped to stare in awe. Clouds were all around her. Blissful music was playing and small, circular, stone houses surrounded the fluffy field. The music was from unseen lyres and pan flutes. It was heaven. _

_She inhaled deeply through her nostrils. The air smelt sweet and pure, like roses in the morning. She spun herself around and around and around until she tripped and fell, she barrel rolled down a hill and stopped at the middle of the mound, arms outspread and she laughed. She laughed for the first time in a long time and it wasn't at someone, it was full of sarcasm, she just laughed. _

_She tumbled down further and she slowed to a stop next to a creek. Suddenly, she was thirsty. Kerry cupped her hands together and lowered her palms to the water. Once she dipped her hands in, she felt cool water, not too cold, not too warm. Hoping it wasn't bitter and salty, she sipped the liquid from her hand. She stopped, wide-eyed; this water was sweeter than anything she had ever tasted. It tasted like the fresh nectar of a flower. Accustomed to tap water, Kerry had never tasted anything like this. She spooned up more and more to quench her thirst for the spring water. But alas, she couldn't, the lucid nectar kept slipping through the cracks of her imperfect cup. Desperate for more, she lowered her head to the creek, mouth agape. The water level got lower. She inched her face deeper and the water level got even lower. She kept this up until all the water was gone. Then, on the empty banks, she spotted a metal cup. It was rusty and old, though in Kerry's eyes, it was solid gold. She picked it up and it got stuck to her hand. She was unable to get it off. It didn't matter; she raised her head out of the empty creek banks, returning the water, though this time the liquid color was ambiguous. Despite the color, Kerry scooped the water with her new found cup and lusciously drank. Her eyes shot wide open and she spat out the water, it was bitter! The once delicious creek water now tasted like bile from her stomach._

_Disgusted by the taste, she hacked out all the remains of the liquid she could though the flavor was still stuck in her mouth. She grabbed the metal mug and pulled. The cup resisted her attempts. She pulled harder and the mug came off, flew from her hand and landed once more in the creek, leaving a searing, red pain on her hand. Glancing to her right, she saw a teacup. She picked it up and peered inside. The only content of the teacup was ground up herbs. For some reason, Kerry felt an impulse, and impulse to taste the creek water once more. She lowered the teacup to the creek. Water stung Kerry's hand, it was liquid ice. When she raised her hand, steam rose from the minute cup. She put the cup to her lips and drank. _

_The simple and earthy taste quickly overcame her palate. It felt homemade. She had never tasted anything like it for her mother never had the time to make her own tea. It immediately replaced the disgusting creek water. Heat rushed through her whole body and she smiled at this warm feeling. She took another sip, this time, the tea tasted fancy, sophisticated, and proper. She had never tasted tea like this for her mother could not afford many high class things. Kerry took one more sip. Now the tea tasted more tropical, again something she had never tasted. It tasted like hibiscus flower and fruits. Kerry never had the luxury of traveling to different places. The closest she got to such a flavor was fruit punch. She looked at her hand, it was no longer red and the pain was gone. She took one more sip, but came up empty. She looked into the teacup and it was empty. She frantically looked for more herbs, and she couldn't find any. She gave up searching. Afraid to drink any creek water that wasn't tea, Kerry put the cup down and walked to another open field of clouds._

_She lay down on the soft clouds and sighed. She could get used to this place. Her mind and soul were serene and she was at peace. Until…_

_ "Kerry, Kerry"_

_ Kerry quickly bolted upright, disrupting her dreamy state, "Who's there?"_

_ The soft, yet demanding voice spoke, "Kerry, this place is no for you. Go to the crossroads and find the big, brown cat. Insist that he will take you to the Sanctuary. There, you will find the Bureau Creazione, they shall help you_. **DON'T LOSE YOURSELF!**_"_

_

* * *

_

Kerry bolted upright, she was panting. She wondered who that voice was, _"It sounds familiar."_

Her train of thought crashed at she heard distant meowing and ominous music down the street. The music was composed of flutes and clarinets, slowly playing in an eerie manner while a tube and bell kept tempo. After a few seconds of listening the meows soon became voices. And the music grew even louder.

"Dude! It's the king!"

"Bow down for the king!"

"King Shinneri! Please take me to the Felinasus!"

Kerry looked out the window and she saw cats, and a lot of them. It was a mob, and in the middle of the crowd was a group of anthropomorphic felines, many of whom, were carrying musical instruments. The cats, who weren't carrying an instrument, surrounded a carriage being pulled by Husky dogs. They had black fur surrounding their whole body, except for the white fur covering their mouth, creating a mask-like look, and more white fur around their neck, and paws, making those cats look like secret service men. Just then, Kerry spotted a jet black Siamese wearing an oriental robe.

Kerry rushed downstairs and to the front door. She opened the entrance way a few inches and peeked outside. The whole parade halted and the secret service cats kicked and pushed the neighborhood residents away. The Siamese stepped forward, cleared its voice and announced, "As the royal adviser of the kingdom of Felinasus, I, Ikatsui, present, the Cat King!"

Kerry wasn't sure if the cat was male or female, it looked male but its voice had a pinch feminism. Ikatsui looked directly at her, "Umm, Ms. Kerry, please, step forward."

She involuntarily stepped forward, Ikatsui nodded in approval, "Now presenting, King Shinneri!"

The curtains of the carriage pulled away to reveal a long-haired cat with white fur with a light brown marbled swirl. The cat stared at Kerry with his green and brown eyes. "Humph, that's me."

A short-haired cat climbed off from the back of the carriage. Its ears were floppy and flat against its head. Its fur was peach, save for the brown-blonde coloring on its ears. The cat had a goofy grin while the king had a contemptuous scowl.

Ikatsui took out a scroll of papyrus-like paper, unrolled it, and read, "King Shinneri expresses gratitude for saving his son, the prince."

The King retained his glare, "Thanks"

"From now on, you shall receive your rewards for saving the prince's life."

Kerry stammered, "Th-this is re-really unnecessary."

Ikatsui retaliated, "This is just idiotic! You have saved the prince's life! The only heir to the throne, and with the king's wife... um," Ikatsui nervously looked back at the King who was now glaring at the Siamese, "gone, there will be no more heirs after him. If the king were to die after the prince's death, the kingdom would go into turmoil! Cats would fight for the crown, and the kingdom shall be left in ruins!"

Kerry was shocked; had she really saved a whole kingdom that fate? Had she really saved a prince?

Ikatsui continued, "Here is the first of the many gifts you shall receive, Okkuu!"

The goofy cat stepped forward and held out a box. He spoke, "Ha, you'll get a bunch of awesome stuff—and—and—is that a tree?"

Ikatsui leered at the idiotic feline, "Okkuu, focus"

The cat laughed and his voice leaked with stupidity, "Oh right and here's the gift."

Okkuu handed Kerry the box. The music started once more, Okkuu hopped onto the carriage, putting the curtains down and yelled, "Go on doggies!"

Ikatsui slapped his/her head in annoyance as the huskies and carriage walked onward, following them, the parade of the bipedal cats, leaving Kerry to sort out what had just happened.

* * *

**Okay so there are a few differences. Now it won't be like reading the movie with different character names**. **Oh and try to imagine Okkuu, not in an annoying, high-pitched, kiss-up voice. Try to imagine him in a goofy class clownish voice, because that's who he's based off.**

**And thank you to whoever is taking the time to read my story**

**-splattermusic  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! I'm back! (like anyone would care because only two people are reading my story, if not less) Oh well, I'll continue on anyways.I'll be updating a lot because it's summer.  
**

**splattermusic does not own the concept of the Cat Returns**

_

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Beep!_

_ Beep!_

"Arrgh!"

Kerry reached over for the alarm clock, yet her hand, instead rested upon an object of some sort. She quickly turned off the alarm and sat up. She blearily looked at the box and picked it up. _"So it really wasn't a dream"_

Kerry slowly opened the box only to find a cat's eye marble. She picked it up to examine it. The marble was light green with emerald swirls and a slash of dirt brown through the middle. She set the marble back into its case and placed the case back on the side table.

She headed downstairs at a walking pace, for school will start later than usual. The kitchen was empty when Kerry walked in, she was used to that. She turned to the refrigerator and there was a single note on it, nothing else. "Hmm, I wonder what this is, _'Dear Kerry, I need to go to a conference in Boise, I'll be gone for four days—Love, Mom.' _Looks like I'm going to have to make my own breakfast."

She sighed and thought of last night. Who were those cats? What's Felinasus? Was that multi-colored-eye cat really a prince? What were they talking about by presents?

Kerry yawned and pondered as she walked to the front of her house to check for any new mail. She reached for the doorknob of the front door and opened it. Outside her house was a field of cattails. As Kerry stared in awe, she unconsciously raised her arm and scratched her other arm. She scratched and scratched until her skin turned red. She kept scratching until she finally regained conscious thought. Suddenly, she remembered, she was allergic to cat tails. Kerry rushed inside her house to get some ointment for her skin. She ran into the bathroom, and she opened the cabinet. Quickly, she turned every container around so that she may see the label. Once she found the skin ointment, she scooped a dollop and applied it to her delicate skin. She kept rubbing her arms, hoping to irritating itch would go away. Surprisingly, the phone rang and Kerry scurried to answer it, hoping to get her mind off of the cattails situation. She picked up the phone and asked, "Hello?"

An explosive voice came out of the phone, "WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO WITH A MILLION KAJILLION LACROSSE STICKS!"

Dumbfounded, Kerry answered, "Sell them on Ebay? Donate them to the school? Give them to a bankrupt orphanage so you can turn all the children into lacrosse players in hopes that you can enter them into the international lacrosse league as their coach, eventually winning and finally earning the money to go to UCLA for college?" Kerry guessed, "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."

Annabeth was shocked, "You mean you really have no idea how this happened?"

Kerry rubbed her itching arms once more, "I have no idea, I just woke up and so far, the only news I had was that my yard is infested with dread cattails. Really, what happened?"

Annabeth continued, "Like I said, there are a million kajillion lacrosse sticks in front of my house. And top of it all, literally, it's on the top of the lacrosse pile; there's a raw fish with a card in its mouth. And all the card says is 'From Felinasus'. What the hell is that? And so you know how disgusting raw fish are? You know I hate fish!"

Kerry sighed, "For the last time Annabeth, I know nothing about this. I got to go to school."

She hung up the phone and grabbed her jacket, and she felt a lump in the pocket. Suddenly, the lump moved and a rat poked its head out of her jacket. Kerry screamed as she threw her jacket to the floor. Breathing heavily, she ran out the door, not caring about the cattails. She scratched her arms as she ran her normal route to school, running faster than usual. This day is just getting too weird for her. She ran through the school yard as the campus supervisor yelled, "Young lady, no running on school property! Save it for PE!"

Kerry didn't listen. She zoomed through the hallway and slowly stopped by her locker. She put her back to the metal doors and exhaled as she slid down to a fetal position. Despite the stares from students walking by, Kerry didn't bother to sit up. The past few days have been too hectic for her. Sighing, she rose to her feet as she opened her locker. Once she opened the door, water burst out and dozens of gold fish slammed against her face. Kerry screamed as students stared at the girl, now soaking wet with fish flopping around her. Kerry stood open mouthed as Annabeth approached her. Annabeth stared at the splashing fish, and of course, being her usual dramatic self, she yelled, "Kerry! We have to do something for the poor fish!"

She ran across the corridor to a random classroom. She came out with a bucket of water, "Mr. Williamson said I could use this, hurry! Help me pick these fish up!"

Both girls got to their knees as they grabbed the fish by their tails and plopped them into the bucket. When they were done, Annabeth carried the bucket into its original room and brought out two towels. She handed one to Kerry and they both started to wipe the floor.

Kerry got up, handed the towel to her friend and inspected the damage of her locker. Everything was soaking wet, and the textbooks were drenched. "Argh!" Kerry slammed the locker door, "Each of those textbooks cost $75! And I had four in there!"

Annabeth reassured her friend, "Don't worry, you can borrow textbooks from the library and I could lend you some money. I just got $3500 from selling only 10 lacrosse sticks on Ebay, and I counted, I got 57 lacrosse sticks, to be exact, sitting in front of my house! I'll give you the money; you don't have to pay back!"

Annabeth beamed at her distressed friend, while Kerry just stared at her, "The front of your house? You just left them there? Won't someone steal it?"

Annabeth frowned in realization, "Oh crap, you're right," then she quickly smiled, "well, no need to linger on the past, got to look to the future!"

Kerry slapped her face in response to her friend's cheerfulness. They walked towards their classroom and sat in their assigned seats. Mr. Daniels marched into the room just as the bell rang. He took attendance and walked around with a clipboard and pen. Kerry didn't notice, for she had her head planted to her desk. Mr. Daniels walked to her desk and asked, "Kerry? Where is your backpack?"

Kerry shot up awareness, in all the confusion; she forgot her backpack at home. Today was not her day. Mr. Daniels rolled his eyes, "Kerry, normally, if a student forgets their homework, I'll just put it in as a zero on their report card, but you don't even have your backpack with you. That means you can not participate in any of our lessons today. That means I'll have to give you detention today. So come to my room, after school and you'll have to stay here for two hours. I'll let you use the phone to call your mom."

"That's okay," Kerry replied, "My mom is out of town, so you don't need to call her."

Mr. Daniels sighed in annoyance, "Kerry, just because your mom is out of town doesn't mean you can forget your backpack!"

Kerry could tell he was getting really mad. She shut herself up as blood rose to her cheeks. She slid down her seat, hoping no one would notice, though that method proved ineffective, for now, the whole class was snickering.

* * *

Second and third period came and went while fourth period quickly approached.

Kerry ran to the music room. When she walked in, her band conductor, Mrs. Basswood was sitting at the computer, typing the performance schedule for the next few months. Kerry glanced at the white board. In big red letters, Mrs. Basswood had wrote, "Practice Playing All Your Songs, You Can Practice Playing With A Partner."

Of course, to Kerry's classmates, practice meant socializing. While everyone around her talked, Kerry went to the instrument cabinet, pulled out her clarinet and headed to the courtyard. The courtyard was a stone area covered in leaves. It had relatively small trees in geometric planters. Stone cylindrical chairs surrounded the planters and the quarter was surrounded by a decorative metal fence. Kerry sat near a tree and assembled her clarinet. While she played, her mind drifted away. It drifted into her memories as she unconsciously recapped all the earlier strange events, _"Let's see, I rescued a multicolor-eyed cat from a truck, I found I have talked to cats before, I found out the cat I saved was a prince, his dad wants to thank me, I found a rat in my pocket, cattails on my yard, and fish and water in my locker, $300 worth of textbooks got soaked and I have to pay for it, and I got detention. Ack!"_

Unknowingly, Kerry's clarinet squeaked a high F and instead of producing a pitch-perfect sound, the note came out as a splat instead. Confused, Kerry took the instrument out of her mouth and inspected the reed. Right down the middle of the reed was a crack; it was barely noticeable, yet still big enough to make the clarinet squeak. Kerry grumbled and searched thoroughly through her case, eventually finding an extra reed. She applied the wooden chip onto her clarinet and placed it in her mouth once again. Before she could continue to play, she heard a peculiar banging sound coming from behind her. She peered over her shoulder and saw nothing but a peach colored cat. At first, she shrugged, and then realized who that cat was, "Miss Kerry? Hellooo? Are you there? Miss Kerry? Miss Kerry!"

Kerry nervously looked at the cat. Thoughts paced through her mind, _"Oh no, that cat's back! What do I do? What do I do? Should I ask him about the gifts the king will send me? Wait a minute; rat, cattails, fish, cats love those things! Those were the presents!" _Kerry glared at the feline, _"This is all his fault!"_

Okkuu still had his goofy smile on when Kerry ran towards him and grabbed his scruff of the neck. She shook him back and forth, yelling, "You stupid cats! Why did you have to thank me! I was perfectly fine the way I was! Thanks a lot! You managed to create the worst day of my life and the day isn't even halfway over!"

Okkuu stilled grinned, "Glad you like it!"

Kerry growled and threw him to the side and the cat instinctively performed a barrel roll and got up in a sitting position. Kerry gasped, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" she started apologizing, "I knew I had anger problems but I've never hurt anyone! I'm so sorry!"

Okkuu laughed, "That's okay, and I like barrel rolls, in fact… DO A BARREL ROLL!"

He quickly got on the floor and rolled all over it while Kerry stood in shock of the randomness of the cat.

Okkuu sat back up, "Are you sure you didn't like the gifts? I mean you accepted the first one."

Kerry asked anxiously, "What gift? I didn't accept anything!"

Okkuu retained his goofy grin, "The cat's eye gem. That's the signature jewel of Felinasus! Holding sends an instant message to the king, informing him that you accept all his gifts. Anyways, King Shinneri was so impressed with you he decided to give you a grand tour of the kingdom!"

Kerry's eyes widened, "You mean like a vacation?" she smiled, "I've never really been on one before."

Okkuu nodded his head rapidly, "Yeah! And after all that, you will have the privilege of marrying King Shinneri himself!"

Kerry's smile immediately disappeared, "What! Marry King Shinneri? Doesn't he have a Queen? Where is the prince's mother? I can't marry him, he's a cat!"

Okkuu's grin faded away as he nervously scratched his head, "Well, um, the prince's mother left the king for another cat. Queen Kierra thought King Shinneri was getting too possessive. It's sort of a taboo subject in the kingdom. It's punishable by death. The only reason I'm talking about it is because we're not in the kingdom. If we were, I would have had my head chopped off and served and a platter by now." The corner's of the cat's mouth rose up once more, "And don't worry about not being a cat! We already have a solution!"

Kerry panicked once more, "A solution? What solution? I don't think I even want to go to a kingdom where your head gets chopped off just for talking about a queen who left the king. Can't I just give the marble back?"

"Oh don't worry," Okkuu reassured, "If you don't talk about her, you'll do just fine. And the solution is a secret," the crazed feline raised his paw to his lips, "so shhhhhh, it's a surprise. And first of all it's a gem not a marble and secondly, Felinasus's best magicians put a complex spell on it so it will allow instant messages."

Kerry looked down at her feet, "Well I guess I could take a look, I mean you guys are going through a lot of trouble just for me."

The peach cat climbed the fence still smiling, "Awesome! We'll get you tonight. See you later!"

As Okkuu pounced across a random building's roof, Kerry wondered what she has gotten herself into.

* * *

**Congrats Mitch, you got your defining moment in this fic. Yes, Okkuu is based on my friend Mitchell who can't seem to focus on anything, though is extremely funny sometimes and very inappropriate the other times (reminisces of the time when he made a chihuahua toy hump everything in sight, even my arm (shudders)) so I got rid of his inappropriate side for obvious reasons. He is extremely loyal to his friend, my frenemy, Dylan. He loves video games so who ever gets the reference and where it is from, I'll give you a hug and waffle. I think this is my longest chapter yet.  
**

**-splattermusic  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, it's been a week since I've last updated. This chapter's kind of short, but do not worry, other chapters will be longer (points to chapter 7). Oh well, on with the story!**

**splattermusic does not own the concept of The Cat Returns  
**

* * *

Kerry sat there, drumming her fingers with one hand while using the other to prop her head up in boredom. She stared at the clock, waiting for the two hours of detention to be over. She only had ten minutes left to go. Kerry was thankful for one thing though. The long hours of detention gave her time to think. For the first hour and a half, Kerry was still panicking about having to marry a cat. After she decided it was best to get her mind off of the subject. Then, she thought about her dream. What was that heavenly place? Was the creek trying to warn her about something? She figured she would ask her English teacher later. He was good at decoding hidden messages in books and poems. Yet the two biggest questions for her were, _"What is the Bureau Creazione? And who was that voice?"_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a book slamming shut. The black-haired teen looked up and her attention shifted to the source of the sudden noise. It was Mr. Daniels who had been reading biographic war novels for the whole duration of detention. "Okay, trouble makers, you may go now, as long as I never have to see you guys again in here."

Everyone in the room then grabbed their backpacks and proceeded to shuffle out of the room while Kerry slowly walked out. She made her way through the small crowd of people and down through the school to Mr. Webber's room. On her way, she practiced what she was going to say. When she entered, she spotted him in his usual plaid shirt and brown slacks. He smiled and warmly greeted, "Queensford! How are you doing?"

Kerry grinned broadly; he always had a tendency to shout his student's last name, "Hi Mr. Webber. Um, I read a book, and, um, I wanted to ask you about something I didn't get, it was a dream the main character had and I know it's too deep to be just a dream, so I wanted to ask you to decipher it."

Mr. Webber scratched his short, golden hair, "Well, you know deciphering is my middle name, Walter Deciphering Webber, so fire away."

Kerry recited her dream, from when she twirled around on the clouds to when the heavenly voice echoed out of the clouds. She described every scene to the best of her ability, the creek part in particular. She described the emotions, the setting, and the colors of the surrounding area in the vision. Mr. Webber nodded his head in comprehension, apparently taking in every word. When Kerry finished, He stroked his chin, obviously in deep thought. Finally, he concluded, "Well, the clouds are a not so subtle hint of heaven, so probably the main character is in the place closest to heaven that she can get. But, she'll probably have to go through a horrible experience to look past all the temptations to see that this place is not for her. Now for the tea, it probably means that her savior has come to rescue her from the clutches of evil and the tea changing flavors means three possible scenarios: 1. her savior will have a split personality, 2. her savior will come from different people, each with a personality similar to the flavor of tea she drank and 3. her savior will have what she has been missing her whole life. Well, that's all I can tell you for now."

Kerry was still not satisfied, "But, what does Bureau Creazione mean?"

Mr. Webber was rubbing his temples, "First of all, Kerry, don't start your sentences with 'buts', and secondly creazione means creation in Italian. A bureau is an investigative club, they solve mysteries, murders, kidnappings, you name it. Think of Sherlock Holmes. Bureau Creazione could be an investigative club for things that are created."

And with that Kerry started to walk out the door, "Thank you Mr. Webber."

Just as Kerry left the room, Mr. Webber called out, "Wait! Kerry!" Kerry backpedaled to the classroom and poked her head in, "Tell me how the book ends, it sound interesting."

Kerry thought, _"You and me both, you and me both"_

* * *

Kerry walked to a popular shopping area, dubbed 'Crossroads' as many intersections were fond there, and mindlessly ended up at the café. Kerry's stomach grumbled loudly. She had just realized she was too freaked out the whole day to eat either breakfast or lunch. Her last meal was her dinner which was 20 hours ago. She was starving. She licked her lips, staring at the display of mouthwatering cakes. "Um, welcome to Café Gateaux. Would you like to order anything?"

Kerry looked up and realized her breath was fogging up the glass of the display area. She used her sleeve to wipe off the water droplets and began to order, though keeping her budget in mind, and not skipping a beat, "Can I have the coffee cake, mango and chocolate mousse, tiramisu, Crème Brule, raspberry tart, and cream puff?"

Kerry smiled at the cashier, though he just awkwardly stared at her, "So, um, that will be $9.50."

Kerry handed him the ten dollar bill and grabbed her paper bag. As she walked outside to eat, spotted an empty table and proceeded to sit down and take the contents of the bag out. Though performed quickly, she did it carefully, for she did not want to drop her first meal of the day, despite it being 5:00 at night. Kerry then ate, as much as she could, and onlookers would have deemed as "disgusting". She didn't care, as long as the food was in her stomach, she was content. Though she was not yet content, she finished all her food, but she was still hungry.

Groaning to the sky, Kerry leaned back and yelped in surprise. She had just noticed that the metal chair underneath her was extremely uncomfortable. She sprang up and rubbed her butt and searched for a more comfortable spot. Apparently, everyone else already acknowledged the uncomfortable seats and all the comfortable seats were taken, such as benches and sofas in the café. Kerry would have sat on the curb, but she felt a desire to lean back on something. Then, she spotted a chair with a big, brown cushion. She immediately sat on it, causing a loud "oomph" noise quickly followed by a "meow".

Kerry shrieked and once more rubbed her butt, "What the hell was that?"

She turned to look at the cushion which revealed itself not to be a cushion, but a large, dirt brown cat with a black spot on its ear. "What the—wait," Kerry stared at the obese feline, "Aren't you suppose to take me to the Sanctuary, or the Bureau Creazione?"

The cat just looked at her like she was crazy, which she probably was. Kerry sighed and walked away, picking up her trash and placing it in the trash can. She started her way home until she heard, "Hey, aren't you going to pick that up? The Earth ain't going to save it self."

Kerry's eyes and mouth opened wide. The cat groaned, "Come on, follow me, I'll show you the way the Sanctuary, and shut that mouth of yours, you'll catch flies and trust me, it's not fun."

The brown cat pounced off, faster than expected. Kerry desperately tried to keep up as they traveled through alley ways. As they ran, Kerry thought to herself, _"This—this is comeuppance for sitting on him!"_

They kept running until there was an alleyway, broader than the other. Its sides were covered by vine and at the end was an arch, probably only an inch taller than Kerry, the started walking from there. Kerry, still breathing heavily, trudged to the archway and got down to her hands and knees and she thanked God that she didn't have to walk any further. "Haven't you ever exercised? I know I'm not one to talk, but you don't see me lying on the ground."

Kerry looked up to see that the cat had grown to the height of her shoulder! She screamed and fell backwards, out from underneath the arch and the cat reverted to its normal size. Curious, she slowly got up to her feet, and put one foot in front of the other, under the arch. The world grew around her and Kerry realized, the cat wasn't growing, she was shrinking. The feline was once more at the height of her elbow. Clearly annoyed, the cat complained, "Oi vey kid, if you're going to scream every time something weird happens, you should just keep your eyes shut it you want to stay in here." Kerry opened her mouth but couldn't find any words possible, though the cat knew what she was going to say, "And there's an enchantment on this place, it makes everyone relatively the height and any other object correctly proportionate to the size it would be compared to people."

Though Kerry could not imagine how this day could get even more surprising. Carefully she walked in. Observing the surrounding area, Kerry was quickly amazed. There were two story houses all lined in a circle. Many were of architecture beauty. Some were obviously oriental in design while other had a European influence. Two of the houses were missing a door. The cat got up on its hind legs and lumbered over to a house near the archway and sat on a bench in front of it. He reached under the bench and grabbed a book, opened it to a bookmarked page and began to read while stroking his chin. Kerry tilted her head sideways to get a better look at the book cover which turned out to be 'Animal Farm'. Surprised, Kerry stumbled back landing on the centerpiece of the circular quarter.

The center piece was a large crystal prism with each side facing a house and it cam to a point at the top. Kerry got off of it and stared, marveling at the gem. Just then, a flash of light arrived from the clouds above, landing at the top of the prism. The light was reflected through the glass-like sculpture and shot at five houses, including the one the cat was sitting in front of. It was peculiar, Kerry noticed, how beams of light only shot at five houses when 12 were in total. The door next to the obese feline slowly opened as a trumpet fanfare began to play. Kerry, too enchanted by what was about to come out, did not notice the trumpet, while the cat did, "Artemis! Will you knock off that cheesy metal music?"

This gave Kerry the urge to turn herself around and see where the brass notes were coming from. To her amazement, she saw a woman on the roof of an Italian house with a horn pressed to her lips. The woman put the instrument down for a second, chuckled, and then continued playing. Kerry heard footsteps behind her and turned around; finding herself face to face with a man with a cat's head and tail, though he still retained his hands and, presumably, his feet. He wore a white long sleeve, button-up shirt and a black bowtie, along with black dress pants. He held a cane, which Kerry doubted that he used it for walking, and had a pure white fedora. Despite everything Kerry had been through these past two days, she was still amazed for this one took the cake. Apparently used to these expressions, the werecat laughed quietly to himself and spoke, "Welcome the Sanctuary, home of the Bureau Creazione. I am Erik Jonathan Beckerrman. I see that you have met Douloureux and Artemis. You must be terribly tired after that jog Douloureux made you do, come on in. I just made a steaming hot pot of curry that should warm you up."

Just as he finished, another door opened wide.

* * *

**Okay, just to tell you, Douloureux is pronouced Dow-loe-roe, it's French**. **So yay! The bureau was introduced, but only half of its members were shown. Stay tuned for more.**

**-splattermusic  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, my update was much quicker than my last one. Okay, I have sketches of some of the characters and I'll post the link in the next chapter. Remember, please review and comment, because I'm not sure if I should continue or not. PLEASE REVIEW!**

**splattermusic does not own the plot of The Cat Returns  
**

* * *

A man garbed in red stepped out of the house, which was probably his; he looked and smiled at the present members of the Bureau Creazione. He warmly greeted, "Hey guys, good night! How are you doing?"

Kerry thought,_ "He looks like Robin Hood and Little Red Riding Hood's son! Little Red Robin Hood."_

He smiled at Artemis and, oddly enough, curtsied and she bowed in returns, causing her to lose her balance. She slid off the roof and onto the balcony below, which prompted a laugh from everyone, including Kerry, which caused the man to notice her. "Erik? Who's this?"

Douloureux answered for him, while still reading his book, "She's this girl who sat on me and hates the Earth. She somehow knew about the Sanctuary and Bureau."

Kerry retaliated, "Hey! Just because I put recyclable things in a trash can doesn't mean I hate the Earth!"

Artemis then pointed out, "Though you should have recycled that if you could."

Kerry was fuming, "I have a name, you fat cat! And at least it's pronounceable, it's Kerry!"

"Sheesh, you need to take a deep breath, you'll feel a lot better. Don't worry about Douloureux; I couldn't pronounce his name at first either. And he's really a big softie once you get to know him."

Not knowing where the voice came from, Kerry looked up and found a white crow tinged with a light brown around its eyes and the edges of its wings. It was the size of Kerry. The crow swooped down and attempted to curl the corners of its lips into what Kerry guessed was a smile. "Hi, my name's Amelia, nice to meet you."

Amelia held out a wing and Kerry precariously held it and moved her arm up and down. She grinned once more, "So, what are you doing here?"

Kerry looked down to her feet, "I ran into a few cat problems. I hoped you guys can help me with this."

Erik looked at each person and gave orders to them, "Artemis, Robin," Erik pointed his cane at Artemis and the red-dressed man, who Kerry now knew the name of, "please bring Kerry into my house and give her a fresh bowl of curry. Douloureux, follow them and see if you can help, since you are the only cat here, and Amelia, bring Shamus out, the whole bureau needs to hear this."

* * *

As Kerry trailed after Robin and Artemis, she whispered to Douloureux, "Is Erik your leader?"

Douloureux, without looking at her, answered with a "Mm-hm"

Kerry interrogated once more, "Why is he like that?"

Douloureux answered again, "If you're asking about him being the leader, I really don't know. He isn't the oldest because that's Robin or maybe Shamus. He isn't the smartest because that's me and Artemis. He isn't the nicest, that's Amelia. And he isn't the most resourceful, that's Shamus, or that used to be Shamus. I guess because he's the only one here with natural-born leadership skills. If you're asking about the way he looks, that's because he was made that way."

"Made?" Kerry asked, being clearly confused.

"Yeah," Douloureux said, as if it were perfectly normal, "made. Everyone, except me, is a work of art. Each made by the heart and soul of their creators. Because of that heart and soul, they come to life."

"Like Pinocchio, right?"

Douloureux grimaced, "Ugh, Erik told me about that little brat. He met up with him in Germany a few centuries ago. Told me that he was the worst creation he'd ever seen. Apparently just being alive wasn't good enough for the kid. No, he wanted to be a 'real boy', and then he went ahead and drank the night away, leaving his poor father worrying to death. Don't pay any attention to the fairy tale; he never turned to a real boy. In the end, he got one of his legs chopped off, after not listening to Erik. He told that little to not go out on the street when you couldn't see a thing, stupid little kid did it anyways, he saw a horse coming right at him, fainted then KABOOM! A carriage ran him over, he was lucky to be alive."

Kerry was surprised on how much the story had been twisted to better suit children, then noticed something, "Hey, you mentioned the word creation, isn't that what the Bureau is for? Creations? Doesn't the name mean 'Bureau for the Creations'?"

Douloureux scoffed, "No, you got it all wrong. The translation it isn't 'Bureau for the Creations', it's 'Bureau of the Creations'. Erik, Amelia, Shamus, Artemis, and Robin are all creations, that's the name for a piece of artwork coming to life."

* * *

Everyone, except Amelia and the mysterious Shamus, was seated inside Erik's house around a coffee table. Erik's house was a typical English home, though it had various trinkets sorted around everywhere. They obviously originated from various countries, causing Kerry to determine that Erik loved to travel. Most of the decor was from India. A sound of a window opening came from the second floor. Everyone looked up. Amelia came into the house and she tried to help someone in, though Kerry couldn't see who. "Amelia, I can take care of my self, don't worry. I've been doing this for thirty years."

A golden eagle jumped off the staircase and swooped to the ground floor. His plumage consisted of brown and unusually, it was mostly gold. The feathers of his head spread out like the mane of a lion, though his most interesting feature was his legs. Kerry looked at his missing talons; they were replaced by a rounded, wooden cylinder and attached to the bottoms were metal claws with numerous strings connecting them to his body. As his some-what peg leg moved, the string compressed and contracted like a muscle and tendon. Amelia dove down and landed next to him.

Kerry took the time to look closely at everyone else while eating her curry. Artemis had black hair and she had small brown eyes. She wore a white, slim-fitting, long sleeved tunic and a tightly wrapped leather vest on top. The vest was a rich brown and had a gold stitching as an outline. She had a royal blue Grecian skirt and below the skirt were two leather boots, fashioned the same way as the vest. Strung across her body was a bow that closely resembled the moon. The bow had ornate carvings of patterns that seem to twist, curl, and curve like a flowing river. It seemed to illuminate as did her quiver and arrows. The arrows were all completely silver colored.

Robin had a crimson button-up shirt that was collared and short sleeved. He wore brown tights and pointed leather shoes. Robin also had a bow and it was placed across his lap. It was a bright brown decorated by maroon circular and triangular patterns. Unlike Artemis's his was simple and bright. His quiver was the same color. The arrows were burnt sienna and had maroon vanes. His hair was a light caramel color.

Now Erik, his fur color was the same as Robin's arrows, burnt sienna, but around his eyes was a mask of dark auburn. And his eyes, his eyes were a steely grey which enthralled Kerry even further. He leaned forward and put his arms on his legs, "Now what exactly is your problem Kerry?"

Unsure of what to say, Kerry thought for a few seconds, and then answered his question, "Well, I was just walking home from school one day and I saw this cat about to get run over by a truck. I saved him and it turned out, he was the prince of a kingdom called Felinasus, and then—"

"You did what! You should have left that kitty to die. They deserve it!" Everyone turned their heads to find Douloureux interrupting her.

Robin spoke, "What's the matter with you? The cat could've died!"

Shamus stroke back, "Actually, I'm going to have to agree with Douloureux."

"Shamus!" Amelia hit his side with her wing, "How could you say that?"

The four companions continued to bicker while Kerry sat regrettably wishing she had never come and Erik trying to calm everyone down. Artemis put her hand under her skirt and pulled out a knife. She stabbed it into the coffee table silencing everyone. Every person, be it creation, cat or human, cat sown. Artemis smiled and gestured to Kerry to continue, "Go on Kerry, oh and sorry for the coffee table, Erik."

Erik nodded and Kerry continued, "And then, the king started sending me a bunch of different gifts. And the final gift was a hand in marriage with the king himself."

Robin, Artemis and Douloureux all took a spit take and yelled in unison, "You're kidding me, right?"

Kerry shook her head and she finished her story, "So, the cat want to take me to Felinasus to be their queen."

Erik interrogated the girl, "Wouldn't the king be too old for you since he has his own son?"

Kerry shrugged her shoulder and Shamus bluntly said, "Shinneri doesn't age."

Everyone but Douloureux looked confused. The brown cat continued for the eagle, "He has a gem, looks like a marble; it continues the aging process for him. But it was stolen out of his kingdom, so he stopped aging. This happened way before the prince was born. The king was around twenty and he's been the same age since even though he should be fifty now. This aging thing was a reason why Queen Kierra left him. By the time she gave birth to Michael, her husband was twenty ears younger than her, and he still acted like a twenty-year-old. Bad thing about having an immortal king, he goes crazy. Thirty years have gone and by and while everyone around him ages, he stays the same. That's why he's gotten really depressed sometimes.

"It's a dangerous place there. Don't try to go there, don't even think about going there," Douloureux was looking at his paws the whole time, "Many people and cats have lost many things, their loves, their lives, their identities…" Douloureux stopped there.

Erik stood up, "Well we must go there, I've always wanted to see what was so terrible of this place, now is the perfect time to go. Artemis, Robin, Amelia, and Shamus, prepare your supplies, we're going to Felinasus."

Shamus shook his head, "No way, they'll recognize me," he shook one of his faux legs, "they're the reason I got this."

Amelia looked shocked, "Really? You never told us before, what did they do to you?"

Shamus closed his eyes, painfully reminiscing of the painful memories cause by the kingdom of cats, "I stole this," he used his beak to pluck a black/white swirled marble from underneath his wing, "This was the gem Douloureux was talking about. Thirty years ago, when I was still in painting mode, I was stolen by the Shinneri to hang in his room. One night, I tried to sneak out but I crashed and landed on his bed while he was sleeping and he must've had the gem on him at the time. It fell into my plumage and got stuck there. I didn't know it was there. Then, he lashed out, in fury, at me, though I can't blame him, I did fall on him. I was scared, so I turned back into a painting. Then Shinneri used his claw to rip off the part of my painting right where my legs were. So I flew out, grabbed my frame and soared away. The guards started to give chase, though at the time I didn't know why, so now, I figured by then, Shinneri found out his gem was missing.

"I don't remember how I got out, but I remember crash landing here, in the Sanctuary and finding a little hair ball, like him" he indicated to Douloureux, "clutching onto me for dear life. Amelia cleaned me and fur ball up and Artemis replaced my leg. While cleaning my feathers, I found the gem and realized what I have done. For years, I have searched high and low for Felinasus to give the gem back, but I couldn't find it."

He placed the sphere in Erik's open palms, "Good luck guys, and God be with you."

Eric nodded, and then proposed the idea of going to sleep. Though Kerry protested, "Please, I don't want to go to sleep yet, I'm still a little shaken up from today's events. Um, is it okay if I ask you guys a few questions, I mean I've never heard of creations before so I really would like to ask a few questions if that's all right with you."

Amelia smiled, "Sure, and Erik will make us his signature tea."

* * *

Erik poured Kerry a cup of fresh, hot tea and she quickly tasted it, it had a earthy taste, identical to the tea in her dream, though Kerry refrained from saying anything except, "Erik this is amazing!"

He smiled, "Like it? I make it myself, though I never write down the recipe so it always tastes different."

Everyone quickly sat in their seats as Kerry asked her first question, "Okay, um, where and when were you made and what are you?"

Artemis and Robin answered simultaneously, "Renaissance Italy, a wooden figure."

Amelia, being her usual self answered, "Victorian England, a poem," Kerry looked at her surprisingly, "a twelve-year-old wrote my poem, but a creation's a creation, and besides I happen to like certain gothic things. In her poem, she lamented of the hard labors of hauling coal and she wished for a white crow as 'gay as an open meadow' to take her away, so I was create with a cheerful personality already set into stone."

Shamus stated, "Renaissance France, a painting, but of course you already knew that."

Douloureux jokingly spoke, "Contemporary, United States of America, a cat."

Erik was the last to speak, "Enlightenment India, though I was carved by a traveling English artist."

Kerry asked another question, "Are there any deep stories behind your creation?"

Everyone shook their head except for Amelia, who had already explained her story and Douloureux, who started to tell his 'background' story, "Once there was a beautiful mommy kitty and she fell so in love with the daddy kitty, they decided to make—"

Artemis interrupted him, "Okay Doulo, we get the idea."

Kerry finally asked her last question, "Why are there 12 houses, when there are only five of you?"

Robin was the one to answer this, "Well, every time a new creation is made, another house appears. A house for that creation to live in after their creator dies." His face turned grim, "Those houses were the homes for creation who did not make it here, or were destroyed, that's the only way a creation can die. That is the reason why the light only touches five houses, because there are only five of us left."

A wave of silence rushed through the room, and Erik broke it, "Well, I think it's time for some sleep, tomorrow, Amelia, Artemis, Robin, and I shall go to Felinasus while Douloureux and Shamus shall take care of Ms. Kerry."

"What!" Douloureux shouted, "I'm not anybody's babysitter!"

"Aw," Shamus complained, feigning weakness, "You know I can't fight off cats with this!" He shook his wooden leg.

Amelia then prompted to bribe him, "Come on Doulo, Artemis, Erik and I just made funnel cake!"

Douloureux was quickly trotting his way to the cabinets containing the foods Erik usually made. Taking out the knotted pastry, he quickly consumed it and spoke with a full mouth, "Aw wight, I'm im."

Despite Kerry's efforts nobody let her stay up later than it already was and by 8:00, everyone was asleep in their own house while Kerry was placed in Erik's surplus room and she couldn't sleep well. She kept fidgeting and turning in her bed, and she still couldn't sleep, for a nightmare was busy enveloping her mind.

_

* * *

Kerry ran breathing heavily. Nothing in her life had prepared her for this. She ran as fast as she could from the snarling panthers. Their fur was pitch black and their eyes were of a hellish red._

_Kerry ran and tripped. She fell into a hole of darkness with no way out. She kept on falling until a hand grabbed onto her. The hand, she realized, was a paw. The paw pulled her up and revealed to be owned by a long-haired brown/white swirled cat. He wore formal clothing that reeked of royalty. He took her other hand to waltz her around, stealing her heart._

_All her worries disappeared. She spoke, "Have I net you before?"_

_And she has, though it was off a bad impression. Kerry smiled and rested her head on his shoulder as they danced and all was content in the world, all was well. The cat rested his head on Kerry's shoulder too, for they were the same height. _

_Then, Kerry felt a sharp pain pierce through her skin. Her head shot upward and she stumbled and fell on her back. Pain spread throughout her body. She told her legs to get up, but they did not listen. She tried to scream in pain, but no word came out of her mouth. The wind was knocked out of her. She painfully raised an arm to her neck and brought it to her face. With horror, she saw fresh blood. Slowly, she looked up, being afraid of what she might see. In front of her was the cat, he had a coat of red all over his face. The cat got down to all fours and leapt onto her. Kerry could only stare in horror as the cat slashed across her body. Her chest was now covered with a macabre wound. The cat crudely clawed out an organ, though Kerry could not see what. The Cat leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Die Katzen Blut ist mein,_

"_Ihr Herz wurde gestohlen,_

"_Ihre Prinz ist nicht hier,_

"_HATTE AUFGEGEBEN!"_

_She looked up and saw her heart in his paws. Kerry, finally regaining her breath, screamed._

"_HATTE AUFGEGEBEN!"_

* * *

Kerry awoke from the ghoulish nightmare and sat up. Her heart was a jackrabbit. Her breath was hyperventilating. Her forehead felt wet and cool. She put her hand to her head; droplets of sweat had collected from her skin. She looked in front of herself and saw an open window. Being terribly cold, yet surprisingly hot, she closed the window. "Couldn't sleep, huh?"

Kerry looked to the right, towards the balcony. She walked outside to find Artemis on the roof of the house next door. Kerry nodded her head, "I had a nightmare about cats."

Artemis laughed, "Well I'm just out here because I couldn't sleep anyways. I'm always restless, can't stop moving. I guess that's the down side to being a natural born hunter, being an insomniac. I just have a hard time staying a staue. Do you know that you're a somniloquist?"

This caused Kerry to become confused, "A what?"

Artemis laughed again, "Someone who talks in their sleep."

Kerry looked strangely at her, "What is it with you and roofs? Do you like heights or something?"

Artemis shook her head, "Actually, I'm acrophobic," which caused another confused look from Kerry, "it means that I hate heights, but I can stand rooftops and trees, but I can't stand bridges, skydiving, tall building, and etcetera. I can stand riding on Amelia or Shamus"

Kerry looked to the sky, which had a half moon high in the middle of it. "What time is it?"

"Roughly, 9:00" Artemis answered.

Kerry studied Artemis once more. She seemed only slightly older than Kerry, yet Artemis's features had been worn, tired and scarred. Both had black hair, yet Artemis's locks were lighter in coloration. While Kerry still possessed innocence, Artemis seemed to have lost any trace of childhood,_ "Maybe because she had no childhood, after all she was created," _Kerry thought, then asked, "So, how long have you and Robin been together? I mean you both have similar weapons and your both from Renaissance Italy so were you guys made for each other?"

Artemis scoffed, "Ha! We've never been together. We were um…" she paused searching for the right term, "arranged to be companions. I am his partner and nothing more. A creation can not change its marital status. Yes, we are dubbed the 'Huntress' and 'Hunter', but our creators intended for it to be this way and it shall stay this way. It is possible to change a marital status but only if you are not given one. I was given the status of a non-blood sibling and despite my feelings for him, it is impossible to go any further than that."

"Why did your creator do that?"

"Well, when I was finished, Robin had just become a widower. I was intended to be his significant other but at the time, it seemed more appropriate to be an acquaintance."

"Widower!" Kerry was surprised and shocked at the fact that Robin already had a deceased wife, "What happened to her?"

Artemis sighed and a look of remorse was quickly stitched to her face. She slid off the roof, sprang off the balcony of her home and landed in front of Kerry, "You better get comfortable, it's a really long story."

* * *

**Get comfortable, Artemis's long story really is a long story. On Microsoft Word, it's 15 pages and 9255 words. It's like a story within a story. It's almost half of the story. Are you up for it?**

**-splattermusic  
**


	7. The Origin of the Bureau Creazione

**Yay! My longest chapter so far. Hopefully you won't get bored while reading this. Remember R&R. So basically, the chapter is all about everyone's past but mostly Artemis and Robin. And there are lots of new characters.**

**splattermusic does not own the concept of the Cat Returns but the O.C.s belong to me.  
**

* * *

The old man took his blade, dug inward, than upward. He had a mighty, grey beard and he wore grey a pair of loose pants and a shirt of equal quality, on top of the shirt was a hand-knit vest, and on top of his bald head was a hand-knit beret. His eyes were wide with wisdom and happiness. His old hands were wrinkled, yet sturdy as he whittled away at the block of wood. One last groove on the clothing and… done! He held up the figurine. It represented Apollo, it was positioned with one knee on the ground and a bow and his hand and it was placed in reenactment of an actual huntsman. The clothing of the statuette reminisced of Robin Hood of England. The man took the fragile paint brush and dipped it in the robin red paint. Red, for the warmth of the sun! He painted the shirt and tights of the man. The old man washed his paint brush and nest dipped it in the brown paint. Brown, for the hearth! He coated the boots, eyes, bow, arrows, and quiver with the rich dark color. The old man continued painting in various colors until the figurine was complete. It looked so real, it could have been already living. He had spent who knows how long on it! But that doesn't matter anymore, it was done. "What are you going to name it?"

The elderly man looked up at his wife, "Ah! Diana, I shall name him Robin, after that beautiful bird that flies by everyday."

"What an unusual, but lovely name, Leonard."

_Thump_

_Thump_

Diana panicked, "Oh no, it's them again!"

Leonard shoved his crafting supplies into his wife's hands, "Hurry! Hide these."

As she left, he cradled Robin in his arms as he gently placed him in a cloth lined box. He placed the lid on the box and pressed his lips upon it, "Be brave, and be silent, La mia Arte."

The door opened and armed soldiers shuffled in. Leonard placed the box underneath a random chair. The soldiers turned and leered coldly at the elderly artist. They combed away to reveal their captain. The captain took one step not once bending his knee. He glanced to the right and spotted a fresh palette. He sneered contemptuously, "Painting again Leonard?" Leonard slowly nodded his head, "I do not understand why you must spent so much time on these whimsical projects, they are so time consuming…" he twirled a paintbrush in his hand, he stopped and broke it in half, "and it makes you so weak."

"What do you want, Malefico?" Leonard growled sternly.

Malefico lowered his eyebrows, "It's Captain Cattivo to you, and I am here to bring a message from the Vatican, it was ordered by their Bishop." Malefico chuckled and snapped his fingers, stroking his goatee his other hand.

A small page stepped forward and he nervously looked up at the famed artist. The boy couldn't have been more than the age of eleven. He wore a white blouse; over the blouse was a leather vest. Below his waist were Shakespearean shoes and pants. On his head was a hat too many sizes too big and there was a single red feather on top. He reached into his vest and pulled out a scroll. He stuttered, "De-de-dear Leonard Vivere, y-you have been warned for a cr-crime most f-foul. If at-te-tempted again, you shall be convicted for treason against the church and," the boy looked up, "hanged. Signed, Pope Leo X"

Malefico pushed the boy out of the way causing the page to stumble humorously, creating laughter in the room. Though, Leonard stayed silent for reasons to numerous too state. He frowned, "For I ask, what I have done to cause this?"

Malefico stopped laughing, his face, staid. He drew out his sword and pressed it against Leonard's throat. Leonard blinked once, and Malefico spoke, "I thought it was obvious, you sign your name on your paintings, you do not go to church, your creations only praise the commoners, not god, and you pray in Italian even though you very well know Latin. And your neighbors suspect you of fashioning a creation, a creation! Those living trinkets are only the devil's work!"

Leonard stiffened and gulped. He placed his foot in front of Robin's box and pushed it even further underneath the chair. "Please, Captain Cattivo, have you learned anything from the Peste Bubbonica? There have been too many deaths already, I do not think heaven nor hell can handle this many people, so please, sheathe your sword, put on your helmet, and use your head. This is a time of thinking."

"You are just as horrid as those northern, Protestant, traitors to Christ."

"And what is wrong with the North? I have a cousin up there, great man, Albrecht Durer, he does amazing wood carvings. Now if you will excuse, I promised I would help Leonardo with his brilliant inventions. He plans on making a machine that will allow man to fly! What an amazing idea!"

"Bah! Only angels should have the privilege to fly!"

"What about birds, eh?"

"They are mindless creatures; they fly only to escape danger. That is exactly what Leonardo is planning to do. He is a criminal, with his anatomy drawings and secret codes, he even writes with his left hand!"

"I write with my left hand!"

"This proves it! Genius or not, you and Leonardo are spawn of Satan, I'm surprised you haven't been damned to hell yet! Well you will anyways. You and Leonardo will meet each other for the last time, at the gallows!"

With that, Malefico stormed off, his troops following suit and the young page chasing after them. Leonard sighed, he reached under the chair and brought Robin out of the box's custody, "I apologize, Robin La mia Arte, for your first glimpse of the world was not a pretty one."

Robin sat up and smiled, "That is okay, I am just glad I am alive."

* * *

"Robin! Diana! I have a surprise for you!"

Robin ran toward the front door, he grabbed an arrow from his quiver, tied thread around it and positioned the feathered stick on his bow. He took aim and released. The arrow landed on the wall, near the door hinge. He climbed up to be eye level with Leonard. "What is it, Father?"

Diana laughed and she stepped out of the kitchen, holding a ball of dough on he flour coated, delicate hands. "Yes dear, what is so important that it made Robin scurry out of the kitchen like a field mouse?"

Leonard chuckled and set a clothed item on the table. It was an inch taller than Robin, though it nearly had the same figure as him, "Leonardo made this, though she might be a bit taller than you because Leonardo didn't know how tall you were. Without further ado, I present to you, Mina Dawn!"

Leonard pulled off a cloth with such a flourish, Mother Nature would be impressed. Underneath the cloth was a china doll, garbed in white and lace with a single veil behind her head. She held a bouquet of white roses with both hands. She had wavy blond hair and she had pale, porcelain skin, in contrast to Robin's wood skin. She was perfect, she was beautiful, and it dawned on Robin, she was his bride. Robin was in shock, he had never seen anything, no, anyone like her. He stood there, open-mouthed. She held out hand and smiled. Robin held it in his hand and gently brought it up to his lips. She softly spoke, "It is nice to finally meet you Robin."

The ends of Robin's lips slowly curled up to a well presentable smile. "The pleasure's all mine."

She curtsied, and he bowed. Leonard started to deeply chortle. "I'm glad you two are getting along so well. Unfortunately, Mina will have to stay at Leonardo's home. We can barely keep one creation hidden, much less two! Until the day we can keep the inquisition of our tails, she will have to stay at her creator's house. But do not worry Robin! I will bring her over to our humble abode every day."

Diana faked a smile, "She is very beautiful, but so delicate. What if she breaks?"

"Bah!" Leonard spat with an outward motion of his hands, "What are the odds of her breaking?"

Robin stopped listening to his parent's words, for he was lost in Mina's green eyes, and she was lost in his.

_

* * *

Knock!_

_Knock!_

"Coming Father!"

Robin once again performed his daily routine of leaping through the air, releasing an arrow unto the door and climbing a rope to reach a human's eye level. He aimed and arrow at the door knob and liberated it from his tight grasp. The arrowhead landed in the knob and he tugged, opening the door.

Leonard came through the door with a large basket. Though the contents were esoteric, Robin longed to know. Leonard opened the basket and reached in. He brought out Mina who was quickly relinquished from his hand to converse with Robin of whatever has happened while she was gone, from topics from burning last night's pasta to attending a funeral for a neighboring woodpecker. As they talked to each other, Leonard pulled out a minute closet, a comb the size of a thumb nail, and an umbrella fashioned from a toothpick. Through the corner of his eye, Robin spotted his father pulling the contents out of his bag. "Father, why do you have all those things with you?"

"Well Robin," chuckling as he looked into his son's eyes, "with Malefico off our scent, Ms. Dawn may now live with us!"

Diana smiled as she walked out of the kitchen with a pan in her hand, "What splendid news, Leonard!"

The graying woman came up to Leonard and kissed him on the cheek. Robin smiled and did the same with Mina, who—as a result—started to blush.

Diana laughed and lovingly smiled once more, "Come everyone, it is time for our first dinner with a new family member."

Everyone gathered in the dining room and said their prayers, thanking the dear lord for the wonderful food and the opportunity to let Mina live with their family. After dinner, Robin helped Mina get onto the side table in the hallway. She picked up her newly fashioned umbrella and opened it up. She placed her comb in her hair and held the umbrella with both hands while resting it on her shoulder. Robin got on one knee and held his bow up and placed his arrow in its designated spot, as if he were to shoot. He stretched one arm out, holding the bow, while the other arm pulled the arrow and string near his mouth. He was positioned at the door. Robin turned his head and whispered, "Goodnight."

Mina beamed at him, "Goodnight, I'll see you in the morning."

They both froze, becoming inanimate objects once more with grins frozen on their face.

* * *

Later that night, the door knob of the back door moved slightly. It moved again, and again, and again, and again, until it finally granted entrance to the anonymous stranger. Men, each guarded by a face mask, marched silently into the house, one of them carrying a burlap bag. The intruders picked up certain sculptures and placed them in the bag. One soldier picked up a wood statuette in the guise of a hunter, he also was made in a ready stance with a bow and arrow; he was painted bright red, which seemed to be odd clothes for a hunter. He was found near a porcelain bride. In contrast to his audacious colors, a scowl was placed on his face, along with a scrunched up look, apparently taking aim with his arrow. The man holding him chuckled as he placed the statuette in the bag. Surprisingly, a shock of pain spread through the man's index finger, he brought the finger up to look at it and curiously, there was a tiny arrow stuck in it. In confusion, the man pulled it out only to be attacked by a barrage of mini arrows on his leg. He fell over in pain and glimpsed at the bag, it started to move and the hunter figurine ran out, breathing heavily. _"The creation,"_ the man thought, _"I found him!"_

The injured man called out to his team and they came running, though careful not to wake up the slumbering household. Robin let loose a bombardment of arrows, in an attempt to save his wife as he could tell, they were hunting down creations. Robin heard a noise behind him and shot his arrow without hesitation. He quickly glanced at Mina, who was still asleep; she must have been really tired. His arrow landed on another man's leg which made him jump in pain. This caused the man to lose his balance. He placed his hand on the side table in the hallway. Mina fell off at the sudden movement and before she could wake up, the man stumbled backwards, and he stepped on Mina Dawn La mia Arte, shattering her delicate body. The corners of Robin's eyes watered as his face grew as red as his clothes. He screamed, "NO!"

Robin ran in fury as he used his bow to club and his arrow to stab the invader's feet. The ruckus was disrupted when Leonard and Diana walked into the room, awoken by the noise. All the men ran out of the house, and one was left. He smirked at Leonard, "You lose, Vivere. We have proof you have a creation and I'll see you at the gallows." The man scoffed, "Tsk, tsk, Leonard, you know only the good Lord can create life. By making him," he pointed at Robin, who was mourning over his love, "you have mocked the Lord. And I assure you, I will see you hanged for this."

With that, the masked man left, though it was already obvious who he was, he left a broken-hearted family, grieving over the loss of their beloved porcelain doll.

* * *

Robin placed his head in his hands. He wondered, _"Why did she break? Whenever I touch her skin, it is always soft and warm, not the type to break. Is she only alive when she is awake? Are we mortal?"_

He pondered and tearfully, he asked his father. A solemn look spread even further across his already serious face. "I knew I had to tell you someday. You see, creations will never see a gilded gate, nor a blazing inferno. They fear no apocalypse and are fazed by no horseman." Leonard's eyes grew wide, "Except one: war, who will be quickly followed by death. Creations can die only from violent means, otherwise will a godly life. That is because they aren't alive, yet they are. As you know, Mina became a china doll once asleep and you become a wood statuette. When asleep, creations become as lifeless as any other piece of art and just as breakable. Yet, when they are destroyed, they just disappear, they will not go to heaven nor hell, they just cease to exist. So this I plead of you, protect yourself, protect others like you, or you will be forgotten. Do not let the fate of Mina fall upon you;" water gathered at the corners of the man's eyes, "you are too precious for me to lose.

* * *

Fear took over him. He was immobile and bed-ridden. The lassoed rope struck horror to his heart. He knew the day would come. He had no hopes of escaping the noose, except one: die willingly. He was far too old to fight against the armies, and his wife knew it too, yet rejected to believe it. Slowly, he stopped eating and Leonard forced himself to die. Robin tightened his jaw; he knew his father's days were numbered. An ominous feel swept across the once homely residence. Everyone had lost the will to live, except the sole female. She had been working on a project, though no one knew what. One day, she kneeled by her husband's death bed and presented a box to him, the same box Robin had been kept in. She lifted the lid of the box and inside was a woman, a huntress and a pulchritudinous one at that. The huntress sat up and smiled, "Hello, my name is Artemis Donne d'Arte, named after the Greek goddess of the hunt and moon."

Leonard closed his eyes and irritably spoke, "Bah! A replacement for Mina will not make me feel any better! My destiny is still set in stone, Mina is still dead, there is nothing you can do Diana. Robin will not need, nor want a fake wife"

Hurt, Artemis clenched her heart and looked down. Just as sensitive, Diana informed her death doomed husband, "I did not make her as a replacement Leonard, I made her as you were making Robin. I decided Robin would need a spouse so I worked my spare sweat and tear into her. I decided to make her a huntress so that she may accompany Robin on his many adventures. When Mina arrived, I knew he wouldn't need her, yet I continued working, for I knew that someday, Mina would break. When she did, I decided he needed a friend more than a wife, so here she is." She looked at her husband with pleading eyes, "please, I just do not want our son to be lonely anymore. I do not want him to live his life without anyone else. What are the odds of him finding another creation? Not very likely. No matter what you do or say, nothing will change my mind, she is here to stay, Leonard. And I ask you of just this, please, bless her heart, her mind, and her soul so that their adventure beyond our lives shall continue."

Leonard looked at his wife, his eye shining with tears and full of love. Then, he looked at Artemis, "Artemis Donne d'Arte, I apologize for my behavior. Please forgive me." His voice was full of regret, "Dying really makes an old man bitter. I bless you with all my heart. I bless you so that you may participate in the many adventures the world has to offer with my son. I bless you so that Robin may have a close companion. I trust in you to teach Robin the love of not a spouse or family, but the love of siblings, friends by divine creation. Though you may not be blood siblings, for it is impossible to have brother or sister creations, I trust in you to be one for Robin."

Artemis slowly nodded her head. Leonard nodded back. "Now it is time, Robin!"

Robin entered into the room, "Yes?"

He spotted Artemis, who was now standing on a side table, leaning against a vase. Diana introduced her, "She is Artemis, you two shall be companions, incase I die after Leonard. Then you wouldn't be so lonely."

Robin climbed onto the table and examined her. She was unlike any woman he had seen. She wore a man's shirt and vest and a skirt that was dangerously short, for it revealed her knees. Her hair was messy and unkempt. She was a huntress. She was nothing at all like Mina, though she still had a golden smile. Then, she did the most peculiar thing Robin could imagine a woman do, she bowed. Robin laughed at this gender-swapped greeting, so in response, he curtsied. Artemis smiled once more and laughed. Then, Robin realized that her smile was not golden. It did not shine like Mina, whose was pure, warm and estival. Artemis's smile was like a crescent moon, mysterious, unnatural and wintery. Leonard beamed at this, "I am glad you two are getting along. I need to see the innocence of friendship once more before I die."

Robin looked at his father worriedly, "Father, you're not dying yet, are you?"

A grave impression etched across his face, "Ah, but I am. It is my time to go now."

Diana pleading looked at her husband once more, "Leonard, you can't go now!"

He placed his hand on hers, and he looked straight into her eyes "I love you, please let me go." He looked at Artemis and Robin with fatherly eyes, "Promise me that you'll live long lives. See the world, travel to new places, and find the sanctuary."

Robin, despite not understanding the last promise, nodded, "I promise Father."

Artemis completely comprehended, "I promise, I will find the sanctuary."

Leonard smiled, "Then I can rest."

Leonard closed his eyes and drifted away. His arms and head went limp and a smile was forever sewn to his face. Diana broke down to her late husband's chest and cried, harder than she ever had in her life. They say people look like they're sleeping when they're dead. Those people are wrong, people just look dead. They look devoid of life, a vacuum, a hollow tree. A tree older than the forest surrounding it, though it was slowly decaying away on the inside until it was just an empty shell.

Robin bit his lip, holding back tears, though failing at doing so. Artemis just clutched her arms, hugging herself and wondering questions like 'what kind of world was she born into?' And she thought, _"The way Leonard looked at Diana, before he died, it was so full of emotion. What was that? It seems warmer than any emotion I have seen. Warmer than the look Diana had given me when I had been created. Was it love? Will I ever experience it?" _She glanced over to Robin, who had his head in his knees, _"Probably not. He really did seem to love this 'Mina' girl Diana told me about. Maybe it's best if I kept my feelings to myself. Maybe I should just back down. I will not risk the chance of having a genuine friendship for the chance of having him look at me like that, then having my heart crushed by his active feelings for 'Mina'. As Diana told me, 'Robin is taking this death harder than any of us, for humans, we get over loses relatively quickly, due to our short lives. Robin is immortal, his wounds will take a long time to heal, if they ever do.' She was right, his heart will never be mended, and my heart will never be whole, though I do have this feeling, no, instinct to be there for his, to be his companion, and his companion I shall be."_

Artemis looked once more at Robin; she told herself that she was crazy; she told herself it was impossible to fall for someone in such a short time period. She told herself many things though she hardly took any of them to heart. She didn't know what to now, except bow her head for the great artist is dead.

* * *

The next day, Robin awoke from the table in the hall. He looked over to his side, usually expecting Mina to be there, but it was just his female doppelganger. He sighed in disappointment. He jumped off and walked to his mother's room. He peered inside, yet, oddly enough, she wasn't there. Confused, he walked to his father's room where the corpse still laid. He entered and found his mother in the same spot she was the night before, head face down on her husband's chest. Robin leapt onto the bed and pushed his mother shoulder as hard as he could, "Mother, it is time to wake up."

She did not stir. Groggily, Robin rubbed his eyes and shoved once more, "Mother, wake up."

She did not wake. Panicking, Robin repetitively pushed her back and forth, "Mother! Please! Wake up!" she did not do anything, and he broke into tears once more, "Mother! You can't leave me like this! Please! I still need you!"

He ceased his efforts. From the temperature of her skin, she was already long gone. Robin pounded his fists against the bed. He tried to take all his frustrations out, but there were too many emotions running through his body, too many deaths. No good came out of the last few days, except one. Suddenly, Robin felt a pair of hands placed on his shoulder, "Come, it is time to leave for the Sanctuary."

Robin rubbed his arm across his eyes, "What is that anyways? This Sanctuary my father talked of."

Artemis sighed, "You have not heard of it? I was told of it right when I first awakened. It is a circular area, with no life whatsoever it in, for one can not stumble upon it by accident."

"Why?" Robin inquired.

"There are enchantments on it. One may not be able to enter without intentions of finding it." She led Robin down the hallway and at the end wall; she loaded her bow with an arrow tied to a string and launched. The arrow soared and landed on the wooden ceiling of the house. She tugged and a door swung opened, thus a hidden attic was revealed. A ladder lowered down. As they climbed, Artemis continued her story, "This was where I was made." The attic was filled with art supplies and scrolls and books were stacked onto shelves. Artemis jumped onto the shelf and began to climb; she looked at each scroll until she reached the near top of the attic. Then, with a "Ah-ha!" she pulled the scroll out, letting it drop to the floor. The scroll unrolled itself, "This room is filled with information on creations and everything known about them. Have you felt a buzzing behind your head lately?" Robin nodded, "Well, is caused by an instinct, an instinct found in every creation. It is activated when one's owner passes away and they are left with no one to be inherited by. Many owners of creations, while on their death bed, speculated that this instinct will lead creations to a new home, a sanctuary for them. A haven so that they may be free of any worry. A safe place made by the same enchantments that made us. It is rumored to be in a world undiscovered. After its owner dies, a creation's purpose is to find this sanctuary."

Robin asked, "How will we find this place then?"

Artemis shrugged, "I guess that will be for us to discover."

Robin studied the scroll, it had information of the sanctuary, former creation reported across the centuries, you name it. Then, he asked, "What will we do with my parent's bodies?'

Artemis reached under her skirt and pulled out a dagger, "They shall be given a funeral for royalty," she struck across the wooden floor with such force, the kinetic motion energy from the metal striking the wood transferred to thermal energy. Flames burst on the spot. Robin stared in fright, "Are you crazy! All these scrolls in here, do you know how valuable they are?"

Artemis coolly replied, "I know, I memorized all of the already. This is the only way to make a funeral for your parents in such short notice, would you rather they rot?"

Robin shook his head and Artemis smiled, "Good, now let's get out of here."

And with that, they ran out the cursed house. They ran like bats out of hell.

* * *

Once out of the house, they stopped and looked back. A splash of silence was thrown at the duo. Then, Artemis heard faint mutterings. She took out her knife and got in a ready position. She turned to attack whoever was behind her only to find Robin clasping his hands together with his eyes closed and head down. He was on his knees. "What are you doing?"

Robin looked up at her, "I'm praying." As if it was the most obvious thing in Europe.

Artemis stared at him with a puzzled face, "Why?"

Robin rolled his eyes, "I am asking God for his blessing, so that our travels may be safe and that we may stay out of harm's way. I suggest you do the same"

She shook her head, "Do you really think that the creator of every life, the protector of billions, will go out of his way to look after two wooden dolls?"

Robin, still sticking to his beliefs, retorted, "God looks after everyone, he takes care of every living creature. That is what I believe and that was the way I was raised."

Artemis squinted her eyes, "Riddle me this, if God looks after everyone, why is your family dead?"

Robin looked to the earth, "Don't you dare say that!"

He tackled his counterpart and they started to wrestle. She scratched him, he kicked her and the fight ended until Artemis had him in a nelson hold. She held him as tightly as she could. Robin barely choked out an "I'm sorry" and she released him.

An awkward silence was whispered between them. Until Artemis broke it, "Why did your mother die, right after your father? I mean the odds of a husband and wife dying right after the other are highly unlikely, and your mother had no physical ailments. Why did she die?"

Robin sighed, "Like a dog after its master or a falcon after its hunter, people who have been madly in love for their whole lives tend to think it is impossible to live life without their significant other. When one dies, the other is sure to follow."

"Why?"

He shrugged, "No one knows. It is just like Romeo and Juliet, with your one true love in your life gone, your life won't be worth living for."

This just caused another confused look from Artemis. Robin laughed, "And Romeo and Juliet is a play by William Shakespeare, an English man. It is a story about a forbidden love between two Italians. Of course, love is always complicated in Italy."

The pair looked once more at the burning house, and then they turned and left, leaving everything behind, their life, their family, everything. They continued on bracing for whatever God planned for them, no matter the risk, no matter the dangers, they just kept on going.

* * *

"Happy one hundredth anniversary." Artemis cheered in a sarcastic monotone voice.

Robin raised his right eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

Artemis answered his question, "It's been one hundred years since we started this hectic journey. We started in 1507 and it's 1607."

"Hm," Robin thought aloud, "It's really been that long?"

Artemis nodded, "And look where we are now, Enlightenment England."

Robin jumped onto the fruit stand they were hiding behind. He brought his hand to his forehead and looked around the area, turning himself 360 degrees. He jumped off, "The coast is clear."

The duo ran across the cobblestones and up a ramp to a caravel ship, both breathing heavily. They hid between two barrels. Robin looked straight into her eyes, "Are you sure you want to go to the colonies?"

Artemis nodded, "Yes I am, North America is the only place we haven't been to. We've traveled throughout Eurasia and Africa, twice! We need to go to the new world. Luckily for us, Jamestown has just settled, it will be faster for us to travel that way."

"Right." Robin agreed, understanding his long-time partner's plans.

"Let me guess, you two are creations who are madly in love and are on your way to find the sanctuary because your creator recently died."

The hunters looked up to see a humanoid cat sitting on top of the barrel, which caused a snarl from Robin, yet Artemis dismissed it, "No, we are just acquaintances and our creators died a hundred years ago. We've been traveling the world ever since, though you are correct on everything else."

The cat smiled and leapt of with agility Artemis and Robin would kill to have, "That is good because I am on my way to the sanctuary myself. I propose a deal, we help each other reach our goals and we don't try to kill each other on the way." He glanced at Robin, "And please inform your boyfriend that I am not a demon or devil spawn."

Artemis laughed, "Sorry about that, he was raised in a Renaissance household."

"Ah," the cat said in realization, "Well, I was raised on a boat traveling around the world, so I do not really have a religion after seeing so many different points of views on deities and such."

"So what's your background story?" Artemis asked.

The cat stroked his chin, "Well I was crafted in India by an English carver. I've been traveling the world since. Unfortunately, his ship accidentally crashed into port late at night. He was the only casualty."

"Oh," Artemis lowered her head, "I'm so sorry for your loss, my condolences."

"Thank you," then the cat realized something, "I forgot, we haven't been properly introduced yet, my name is Erik Jonathan Beckerman." Then, he bowed.

Artemis grinned broadly, and bowed as well, "My name is Artemis Donne d'Arte."

She nudged Robin in the ribs and he reluctantly bowed, "My name is Robin La mia Arte."

Erik smiled, "It is a pleasure meeting you all. Now a word of the wise, you should sleep. Being a creation at sea is a very nauseous experience." Erik proceeded to leave to a location obviously Artemis and Robin knew nothing about, having never been on a boat, for they mostly traveled by foot

Artemis laughed, and then looked at her closest friend to chastise him, "Robin, why are you being so rude?"

Robin rolled his eyes, "Artemis, this guy looks like a demon!"

"He is a creation!" Artemis said sternly, "Just like us. Remember, everyone thinks we are demons. Besides, his creator just died, you could have been a bit more sensitive. At least try to get along."

Robin crossed his arms and huffed like a child, "Fine."

"Thank you," she hugged and kissed him on the cheek, "we really need his help. Now go to sleep."

She stood straight up, and placed her hands behind her with her bow in both hands. She pulled her shoulders back and looked to the side. Robin chuckled to himself as blood went up to his cheeks, "Yeah right, who could sleep at a time like this?" He looked to the west and saw the sun setting. It was summer time so it was around 7:00, "Ha, apparently everyone."

He sighed and assumed his usual position.

* * *

Robin stirred in his sleep, his thoughts racing of his dear porcelain bride. He watched as his love was crushed to death. Suddenly, he snapped out of his unconscious state, falling into the moss beneath his feet. He laid on his back and stared at the sky, he was close to hyperventilation. Then, he heard a sharp ring penetrate his tympanum. "Come on, wake up! Time's a-wasting"

He looked up and over his chest to see Artemis, ten feet away, scraping her knife on a rock. Next to her was Erik leaning against a tree. He was rubbing his large triangular ears, "Do you have to cause so much pandemonium?"

Artemis put her knife away, placed her fists of her hips and smirked, "Why yes, yes I do. Or you," she knocked Erik's head, "will never be able to wake up. If your head was any thicker, it could be a bullet."

Robin, not so surreptitiously, laughed at her quip. Erik scoffed, "You think it's funny, eh? Well no tea for you today."

"Aw," Robin whined, "why do you have to be such a jerk?"

Artemis snickered at the childish rant, "Come one we have to move!"

Robin laid down again, "Hey guys, I've been thinking. We've been looking for this 'Sanctuary' for three hundred and 5 years and Erik's been searching for only a hundred less than us. We don't even know where we are!"

Artemis scoffed, "Yes, we do. I smell ocean water, so we must be on the west coast and that means uninhabited territory. Now let's keep on moving."

Robin growled while Erik stayed silent. They kept walking through the forest until they reached a lone wooden sluice. Robin looked at Artemis, "Hey, didn't you say that this was uninhabited?"

She just stared in shock, "It's supposed to be. I don't know how—"she was cut off by a distant rustle in the brush, "natives, we need to hide!"

One-by-one, each creation dove into the leafy foliage behind them and they peered out. Out of the other bushes came an under-dressed man with blue slacks and a straw hat. He carried a metal pan and dipped it into the sluice and began singing off tune to a song unfamiliar to the trio, "Oh Susanna! Oh won't you cry for me! I've come from Alabama with banjo on my knee!"

The raggedy man repeated the same verse over and over again, somehow, never losing the spirit of the first verse. Artemis sneered at this, "Wow, doesn't this song ever get old?"

"Shhh!" Erik and Robin quickly cupped their hands over her lips. The tattered man turned around, scoured the area, then scratched his head, "Gosh darnit, I've been workin' to long. Well," he pulled a parchment from his back pocket, "time to catch up on my news readin'."

He reached to his back pocket for a parchment. He unfolded the paper and sat down nest to a tree to read. Erik, being the logical one, as usual, quickly gave directions, "Artemis, distract him, we need the newspaper to find out how out-of-date we are and remember, don't let him see you."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh course I won't let him see me!"

Artemis cupped her hands over her mouth and hissed as low as she could. The man looked around, "Who's there?"

She continued her hissing as the volume gradually grew into a roar and the man began to show fear in his eyes, "I-I gotta-gotta gun! And I ain't afraid to use it!"

He reached for his back pocket only to find it empty. He cursed under his breath. Then, the growling came to evanescence. Artemis silently laughed, "Watch this,"

She took a deep breath and funneled her hand in front of her mouths and roared. The man panicked and ran to the forest, dropping his newspaper in the process. He tripped on a rock and part of his pants was ripped off by a bush's branch. The three creations burst out laughing immediately after the man was out of a listening distance. Artemis trotted over to the blue fabric. The fabric felt grainy, yet smooth. It was like burlap, but it was more tightly sewn. Puzzled, she called Robin to help her inspect. Neither of them had ever seen such a fabric. Their studies were halted when Erik read the newspaper, "You guys won't believe this, the year is 1850, that means we're forty years behind. And guess what? We're in 'California', a new state recently given to the U.S of A by Mexico."

For the next hour, the trio read the newspaper and took the time to soak in how old they really are.

* * *

"I see a light!"

"Artemis, if you look directly above you, you can see a light."

"Well, actually Robin, the sun's starting to fade to the west."

"Anyways Robin, I see a light right in front of us, like a clearing. And I see a huge crystal!"

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Robin! Erik! Wait up!"

"You've got to be faster than that to beat us!"

"Come on Arte, hurry up!"

"You know, Arte sounds like a guy's name, like Artie."

"I see it!"

"I see it too."

"Do you think we're here?"

"Are you sure?"

"I've never been sure in my life! After three hundred and forty-three years, we've found it! We've found the sanctuary! We're home guys! We're home!"

"Now Robin, don't jump to any conclusions."

Erik, Robin, and Artemis all looked on with hope at the area. It was on a large, stone area. There were nine houses, each of a different time period and country. The centerpiece of the area, was a huge crystal with nine faces. Artemis walked to the nearest house, an oriental styled house, obviously based on a Shinto temple. No a single light was on in any house. She pushed at the door, yet her efforts remained futile. "Guys, I think these are locked from the inside."

"So what do we do?" inquired Robin, "break in?"

Though the two men were displeased with this solution, Artemis was already cracking her knuckles. Erik quickly chastised her, "Artemis, we can't just break in."

She sighed, "So what are we supposed to do, wait for the key to fall out of the sky?"

Just then, as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, a beam of light shot from the star. It reflected off the crystal and into three houses. The houses lit up and the doors swung open. The three looked at each other, held their breaths and walked into their respective house.

* * *

"And, done," Artemis hammered her knife once more, which caused a piece of rock to chip off, "so Erik, what do you think of the newly finished," she spread her arms out, "cobblestone!"

Erik craned his head over the balcony fence, "It looks the same as yesterday."

"No, no," Artemis shook her head, "I added a groove there," she pointed to one spot, "and I chipped that stone," she indicated another stone, "and, I added milliliter of cement there," she used her toe to point out a crack which is now filled in.

Erik squinted his eyes, "I still can't see a difference, sorry."

"Argh!" She threw her knife to the stones, I've been working on this for years and I still can't get it right!" She face-palmed herself, "I'm a failure!"

Erik raised an eyebrow at the sudden mood swing, "Years of having nothing to do made you crazy, huh?"

Artemis removed her face from her hands, "Yeah, pretty much." She walked in a circle, "It's just that I'm so bored! There is nothing to do here!"

Erik chuckled, "Well, what do you expect, excitement to fall out of the sky?"

She shrugged her shoulders and laid in the middle of the sanctuary, next to the crystal. "Hey, Erik?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it possible to see shooting stars in the middle of the day?"

"No."

"Oh," she got up and ran towards her house, "well here it comes!"

She opened the wooden door and slammed it shut. A blob of white was streaking across the sky and as it came closer, Erik noticed it was coming towards them. Then, he too, ran into his home. He plugged his ear for the impending crash.

_Boom!_

Erik took his fingers out of his ears and looked outside with Artemis and Robin doing the same. Robin looked at him, "Oh my god Erik, what was that?"

He shrugged and leapt off the balcony. A five foot diameter of Artemis's cobble was destroyed, much to her dismay, and a white crow with brown frayed feathers was lying in the middle of destruction. She looked up, "Ha! I found it! I found the sanctuary! I can't believe it took this long! I mean 6 years of just traveling around the world!"

Robin cocked his right eyebrow, "Exactly who are you?"

The crow laughed, "I'm Amelia! It's nice to meet you! Do you have any food around here? I'm starving."

Artemis smiled, "Well, Amelia, I'm sorry to say this, but we don't have food here."

"What!" Amelia shrieked, "Why don't you have food? Don't you want to live?"

Robin burst out laughing, "Are you serious? You do know you're a creation, right? We don't need to eat. And that starving feeling? It'll go away in about a week. We found that out the hard way about a hundred and fifty years ago."

Amelia's eyes opened wide, "You guys are one hundred and fifty years old? That's amazing, I'm only ten! It's such a—"

Erik interrupted, "Actually they're around three hundred and fifty while I'm about a century younger."

Her grin grew bigger, "Even more amazing!"

Though Artemis was considerably, less enthusiastic, "Great, a creation found the Sanctuary three hundred and forty-four years faster than us and we are three hundred and forty year elder," she twirled her finger around, "whoop-dee-doo."

"Well um-um," Amelia stuttered, "it actually wasn't that hard to find, I mean a circle of miniature houses and a giant crystal in the middle of a bustling Californian town, it's not that difficult."

Everyone stared at her. Artemis and Robin were at a loss for words, but Erik wasn't, "Bustling town, we've only been here for ten or so years. When we came here, it was just a forest with a couple of tents belonging to gold-miners. How can it be a busy town in ten years?"

Amelia laughed, "There weren't any gold-miners since the early 1850's, so it's been forty-eight years."

Erik stared straight into her eyes, "Amelia, what year is it?"

The crow curiously looked at him, and then answered, "1898."

Artemis swiftly gritted her teeth rubbed her temples and breathed through the cracks between her canines, "Oh God, guys, we need to get a calendar."

The well-known awkward silence spread through the foursome.

Amelia shattered it with a hammer, "So where will I be living?"

Drew pointed to his left, "That weird looking house that looks like someone squished it to death."

Amelia grinned a smile that would put the Cheshire cat to shame, "Excellent, a painted lady." This garnered even more curious looks.

* * *

"Hey! Look what I've found!"

Robin, Artemis and Erik simultaneously looked to the sky. Amelia was carrying brown, rag-like creature that had a painting frame in its grips. As Amelia lowered to the ground, the weight was too much to bear. She dropped the creature with a thump. Amelia used her beak to turn it to the side and it was revealed to be a golden eagle. Rubbing him with her beak, Amelia sadly spoke, "I saw him crash land," she lifted his wing, exposing the bloody stubs of his legs, "he was missing his legs and I found this little kitten clinging on to him." Amelia turned around and lifted a sleeping, white kitten off her back. The kitten was clearly a bit older than an infant. Its fur was a long-haired powdered snow with hues of grey on the tip of its tail and its eyelids.

Robin and Erik inspected the wound while Artemis kept her eye on the frame, "He must be a painting, I mean, why else would he bring this frame?"

Erik immediately shook his head, "No, he's unconscious. If he were a creation, he would have turned back into a painting."

Robin inquired, "Have you ever been knocked unconscious? None of us have, so maybe if you're knocked out, you could be still breathing. A coma isn't the same thing as sleep. We sleep only when we voluntarily assume our positions. He was clearly forced into this state."

Erik speedily countered, "How do you know if creations can be knocked comatose?"

The kitten fluttered its eyes opened and opened its mouth to yawn, apparently waking from the noise. It surveyed its environment and blearily squeaked in a female voice, "What's a creation?"

Artemis knelt down and spoke silently in a voice everyone thought was impossible for her, "A creation is when an artist, with all their heart, makes something, and it comes to life."

She opened her mouth in understanding, "Oh, Shamus is just like that!"

Robin placed is chin on his fist, "Shamus?"

The kitten fiercely nodded, "The birdie, he came to life and crashed into the woods."

The kitten yawned, so Artemis picked her up and cradled her, despite the kitten being as big as her torso, "That's okay, sweetie, just go to sleep, you've had a tiring day." She swung the kitten, slowly, back and forth. She hummed a lullaby, despite not being the best singer in the world, though it was enough to get the kitten to sleep. After the kitten slept, her usual demeanor returned, "Robin, help me make a replacement leg for the bird. Amelia, take care of the eagle. And Erik," she handed him the kitten, "take care of her, she's had a lot to deal with."

Robin and Artemis carried the eagle inside Amelia's house and Amelia carried the frame. Erik embraced the slumbering feline and wondered what they were going to do with a kitten and a painting with missing legs.

* * *

Erik woke to a soft brushing against his legs; he opened his eyes to see a white cat already awake. The kitten that had been found years ago had grown to be a bodacious and beautiful cat. She was a feral, yet came to visit more than once a day. When on all fours, she was as tall as Erik's hips. When she stood up, she was up to his shoulders. The feline looked up and stretched, "Morning Erik."

A smile crept across his face as he bent down and stroked her fur, "Good morning Josephine. Now what are you doing here?"

She guiltily laughed as a blush rose to her cheeks, "Well, um, I told another one of my friends in the alley about what you guys helped me with and she decided to ask you guys for help, if that's okay with you."

She pleaded with her signature sapphire blue eyes which caused for Erik to unwillingly say, "Okay, go wake up everyone else and please tell your friends to not make a habit of asking us for help."

Josephine giggled, "Though you guys are good at the detective biz. You could form a bureau."

A deep laugh forced its way through his chest, "And what would we call this 'bureau'?"

She thought for a moment as an idea crashed into her cranium, "Definitely something Italian, a lot of art was made during the Renaissance, which started in Italy."

"You mean something like Creazione?" Erik suggested.

She dreamily bobbed her head, "Yeah, that's perfect." She jumped out a window to wake up her fellow immortal friends.

Leisurely, he stepped outside to find a female cat sitting in front of the crystal with a worried look plastered onto her face. He sighed and the rest of the creations hurried out of the door. After the cat had explained its troubling position, Erik climbed onto Amelia and Robin and Artemis jumped onto Shamus and the two birds bolted into the sky once again.

Laughter filled the dark sky as the sun slowly rose. The Bureau Creazione had completed another fine case. The five friends landed into the sanctuary. Erik, Artemis and Robin leapt off

* * *

Their respective birds and looked around. Josephine was usually there to greet them after their investigative missions. She was nowhere in sight. Everyone looked to Amelia and she nodded, and then proceeded to begin her search.

She searched from high above, like a vulture for carrion. She swerved her head back and forth until the arriving sun flashed in her eyes. Amelia flinched and fell several feet until regaining her monotonous flapping. Suddenly, she spotted a small flash of grey and white and she dove faster than a peregrine. Amelia crash landed into a fruit stand, startling the white cat next to her. She hopped off the stand and clumsily landed onto the cat, only to realize it was male. "Jeez, what's your problem?"

She hastily stepped off, "Sorry, have you seen a cat that looks exactly like you, except she's female? Goes by the name of Josephine?"

The male counterpart nodded, "Yeah, she's the oldest cat in the alley, 'bout twenty years old. Poor thing though, died a few hours ago."

* * *

Amelia perched onto a chair, waiting for costumers for the Bureau, as she usually did. That was her routine everyday. As much as she detested this job, she had to do it. She was the most normal of them all; all the other members were either minute, deformed, or missing legs. She sighed and swooped low to the ground. She instinctively swerved around obstacles and closed her eyes. She thought, _"This used to be Josephine's job. She's the only reason why I'm doing this." _Tears leaked out of her beady, black eyes, _"Why did she have to die? Why did she have to be mortal?"_ She opened her eye to look around herself, _"All these creatures mock me with their lives. Pestilence and famine plague them, yet they find sweet escape in the skies above."_ She closed her eyes once more,_ "We creations can never find such place, the closest place we have to that is the sanctuary. Bah! To hell with the sanctuary, before Josephine came, we sat around like pompous children, proud of worthless items, ignorant of the world around us. Creations have no high point in life. We have no way to be remembered by in history except for the fact that we merely exist. We are rocks, molded by the flame which is human passion and their pursuit of happiness. We have no soul, no purpose except to be there. We last for hundreds, maybe thousands of years and we are affected by nothing. We can never change the course of our lives. We can't change the world. Humans, on the other hand, are different. They can choose two ways to live their lives: a candle, slowly burning until deciding to gradually disappear, or a firecracker, to be loud, audacious, to be remembered by everyone, they live short lives, but go out with a bang. Why can't we be like them? Why can't we have millions of others just like us? Another con of being a creation, there are only twelve, maybe less, creations in the world, yet there are billions of hu—"_

She slammed into a big furry object, ruining her internal, monologue speech. She looked up to see a large brown cat with an incompetent sneer slammed into his face, "Watch where you're going, birdie."

In anger, Amelia flew up several feet and tackled the cat. He simply swatted her away, "Man, someone has anger issues."

The cat turned himself around and strutted away. Being curious, Amelia hopped over to him, "Where are you going?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Nowhere I guess."

She questioned even further, "What's your name?"

Reluctantly, he ambiguously answered, "I don't know that was a past life; I don't have a name anymore."

Amelia thought for a second, "How about having a new name, like Matthew?"

"No"

"Kurt?"

"No"

"Ashton?"

"No"

"Timothy?"

"No"

"Marion?"

"Definitely, no"

"Joseph?"

"No!"

The cat's chest was puffing in and out. He was clearly annoyed with her. Despite this, she continued, "Douloureux?"

The cat smiled, "French, I like it. You know, that name's so random, I think it'll work."

The corners of her beak stretched further than it had in years, "Yeah, Robin taught me that word; I had no idea how to pronounce it until a few weeks ago." Suddenly, the symbolic light bulb popped into her brain, "Would you like a job? It comes with free food and a bed."

He nodded his head once, "Yeah, I'll go for it."

Amelia held out one wing, "Then welcome to the Bureau Creazione!"

* * *

**Hope you liked it. I think it was too long. I intended to stop the chapter right after Robin and Artemis burn the house down but I decided to keep going, I still don't know if that was a good idea or not. Oh and there is a reference to another Ghibli movie in there. It's kind of hard to find, but the same line is in another movie. I based Amelia off of my friend Amy. She loves Tim Burton and Edgar Allen Poe (that's why she's from the Victorian Era), yet she has this air of positivity around her and she has light blond hair. She's always happy but she's really smart and deep. Shamus is based off of her friend Shawn. Other characters I introduced were based off of no one, they were just there to move the plot along. Except for Mina, but I don't want to reveal who she is yet. Oh, speaking of Mina, it seems that porcelain dolls have the worst luck in my stories (points to my other Cat Returns story)**

**-splattermusic  
**


	8. The Chase Begins

**Okay, I am back. This Chapter is incredibly short compared to my last chapter. Sorry if that one got a little sloppy near the end, I apologize. If all the new characters gave you a brain overload, then I'm sorry, again. Well, ever since I did chapter 7, I decided to name the chapters from then on. On with the story!**

**splattermusic does not own the concept of the Cat Returns but I do own the ideas for Artemis, Robin and Shamus.  
**

* * *

Kerry stared at Artemis with amazement. She had never thought of her being barely older than herself, much less over five hundred years older. Her train of thought was disrupted by a nearby laughter, "I'm sorry if I bored you with my story. I meant to stop telling it right after Robin and I burned his house, but I felt a sudden urge to tell you more."

Kerry curiously asked, "Why tell me? Why tell me everything? Aren't you afraid I might tell everyone in the world about you guys? Then, you guys will never get a day of peace, why risk all this," Kerry gestured to the sanctuary, "just because I asked you a simple question?"

Artemis silently guffawed into her hand, "I thought it was obvious," she looked down to Kerry, "I thought in order for us to help you, we needed to gain your trust and we can't do that if we keep our origins, species, and life a secret from you. And you had trouble sleeping, so I thought a long story would put you to sleep. We can't have our client sleepy in the morning. Anymore questions?"

Kerry groggily nodded, "If you're from the Renaissance, why do you talk like you're from the twenty-first century?"

Artemis gently stroked her chin, "Well, when a kid lives in England for ten years, he gets an English accent, when he comes to live in America, his accent slowly disappears. You see your voice changes depending on where you live. Your speech pattern might change entirely given enough time in a certain place."

Kerry yawned. She stretched her arms to the sky, "What time is it?"

Artemis shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno."

"9:30, what are you guys doing up so late?"

Artemis only smugly grinned and calmly retorted, "I could say the same for you Doulo, what are _you_ doing up so late?"

Douloureux serenely, yet aggressively replied, "I asked you first."

"I was putting Kerry to sleep," she said it as if Kerry was a small child who needed to be taken care of, "you?"

Douloureux grinned, "I was making more stink bombs for you guys to throw at the King Shinneri when you get to Felinasus. I'm doing it when no one is awake so Erik won't complain about the pungent aromas. But I heard some talking and I hopped onto the roof to see what the commotion was." He turned his head to Kerry, "So how was your first night here?"

Kerry opened her mouth to answer, but Artemis beat her to the punch, "Well it's pretty obvious, it's not very good since she had a nightmare."

Douloureux leaned forward, "I wasn't asking you Artie."

Artemis did the same, "Well, I thought it was pretty obvious," she chuckled rather loudly, "Doo-Doo."

"Doo-Doo?" Douloureux arched his back and hissed. Remarks were thrown back and forth, some clever, others were just plain cheesy and despite her efforts, Kerry could not separate the two.

She sighed, leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. She crossed her legs and realized that she still was wearing her blue jeans and converse shoes. She looked on, to the bickering duo and laughed to herself. They reminisced of two cats fighting over tuna. She smiled, this place felt more like home than anywhere else in her whole life. Sure, sometimes her mom was nice, but most of the time, she was too busy, gone or yelling at her. Kerry always tried to run away but she would always stop right at the driveway and sit there, debating on whether or not she should continue and she always decided to go back inside. Though no matter how many times she debated to herself on the driveway, she knew one thing for sure, she could get used to this place.

Then, Kerry's thoughts shattered as she felt something brush against her nose. She looked down to the ground next to her and found something small and pink. She picked it up and curiously found that it was a cherry blossom petal. Kerry looked around, wondering where this flower originated from, though her search was in vain. The only trees nearby were not close enough and there was no wind. Which made Kerry realize, how could a petal blow across her face if there was no wind? Another petal flew across her legs. Nervously, she looked up to Artemis and Douloureux, "Um, guys? Do you see anything strange about these petals?"

They immediately stopped bickering and looked around; there were dozens of petals circling around them. Douloureux spoke first, "Where are these freaking petals coming from?"

The petals intensified and Artemis's skirt was blowing Marilyn Munroe style. Her hair slapped against her face. Kerry started to hyperventilate and Artemis placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down though this proved to be hopeless. Douloureux constantly battered at the pink wall around them though with every swipe, more petals came. Panicking, Kerry shouted the first thing to come to her mind, "ERIK!"

_

* * *

Erik laid down on the grass as the sun caressed his fur. Then, a sweet voice called to him, "Erik."_

_He tugged on his arms to get up, they would not listen. He looked over his shoulder and saw no bounds tying him to the earth. "Erik." They voice beckoned once more, "Please, come to me Erik."_

_He raised his head to find a beautiful black-haired maiden. She stroke as familiar to him, though he could not remember where he had seen her. She took one step backwards… and another… and another. Her steps were a metronome, perfectly keeping a slow, adagio pace. Upon seeing her, his arms and legs became free of bonds and he leapt forward. Tilting his head, Erik inquired "Who are you?"_

_She did not answer, only backing away even more, "Erik, come to me. Erik. Erik. Erik."_

_He asked again, "Who are you?"_

_Her face drooped down, "Erik, help me."_

_Erik's whiskers began to tingle as they felt a sudden breeze. He looked to his feet to see flower petals, devoid of any color. They blew towards the woman. Her cries grew more desperate, "Erik, please, help."_

_The petals began to twist around her body; Erik could only see quick flashes of her body. Her cries turned into a bloodcurdling scream._

"ERIK!"

He woke up with a jolt to see Robin at his door. Robin stared wide-eyed at him, "Erik, I've been calling you to help us, we've got a problem."

The two bolted outside and found Amelia and Shamus attempting to penetrate a large pink vortex, though their efforts proved futile. Erik could barely hear the muffled screams of Kerry and the curses of Douloureux.

Robin and Erik ran towards the twister but to no avail. A sudden gale pushed them all back and the tornado broke and Artemis, Douloureux, and Kerry were gone. Erik cursed in his mind and looked up to see flower petals blowing in the wind. The petals were the same shade as the vortex that had just blown over. An idea sparked in Erik's mind, "Everyone, follow the wind!"

He leapt upon Amelia and pointed to the direction of the gust. Robin swung his leg over Shamus and they took off. Using the wind as their advantage, they flew within the aerial current. Nearly reaching the petals, Erik stretched his arm out. Suddenly, the petals switched directions causing Erik to fall off of Amelia. She dove down, though the wind blew against her, stalling her rescue. She beat her wings at the invisible foe but it was pointless, she cried out in frustration, "Man! This is stronger than the Santa Ana's!"

Reaching into his quiver, Robin pulled out a long piece of string. He strung it to an arrow, placed it on his bow, pulled back and released. The momentum of the arrow sliced through the wind and towards Erik. With his swift agility, Erik caught it with ease and started to climb as Robin began to pull him up. When he was high enough, Erik swung himself back and forth like a pendulum. He swung higher and higher until he was right on top of Amelia, he let go and landed squarely on her wing. She spun out of control and Erik hung on for dear life, though he was able to shout to Robin and Shamus, "Hurry! Go on ahead, but be careful. We'll catch up."

They nodded and darted off, only to be hit with an invisible wall. Shamus squawked in anger, "Ah, how can we fight something we can't see?"

Robin looked down to the plumage beneath him, unsure of what to do. A loud roar burst through his ears from above. He reacted instinctively, "Shamus, Overbanked Turn, to the left!"

The eagle obeyed and tilted westward before asking, "What was that for?"

Robin did not reply. He reached his right hand out and was nearly thrown off his mount. "It was a gust, and a really powerful one at that. It would've knocked us to the ground. Close your eyes and use your other senses."

Shamus nodded and shut his eyes. He calmed down, his heartbeat slowed down. He only paid attention to what he could hear which was so far limited to Robin's heavy breathing and the continuous flapping of his wings. A _whoosh _approached towards his ears. Shamus swiftly twisted upwards and flew forwards. Effortlessly, he listened and dodged every gust, every gale that was thrown at him. Robin patted his shoulder blade, "Doing good my friend, you're doing good."

"Actually it's 'doing well.'" Shamus corrected.

Robin rolled his eyes from beneath his eyelids. They continued to evade every aerial assault. A blast of air blew against them and they dove down. "Look out!"

Robin opened his eyes and leaned his head up. He found Erik and Amelia, around twenty feet above him, pointing to something. Being curious, Robin looked forward and found himself flying towards a billboard. He pulled on the feathers of Shamus's neck and reared back, "May-Day! May-Day! Pull up! Pull up! Pull up! Immelmann Inversion, now!"

Shamus opened his eyes, "Whoa!" He twisted his wings upward and entered into a half loop, went through a half twist and curved out in the opposite direction in which he came.

With the back of his hand, Robin wiped the sweat off his forehead. He turned to Erik and gave him a thumbs up. Erik nodded and swiveled his head around until he caught a glimpse of the pink petals in the distance. "Follow the petals!"

Everyone nodded. Robin closed his eyes one last time and reacted to a nearby roar, he opened his eyes, "Raven Turn and follow with a Heartline Roll." Shamus did as he was told and they easily avoided the strong breeze. Robin chuckled, "Sweet! We have got to do that more often."

Shamus scoffed, "No wind can beat now!"

"Hey guys," the duo looked up to Amelia, "stop talking and start getting serious, and this is coming from me. Artemis, Douloureux and Kerry just got kidnapped and I'm guessing Felinasus did it. We need to help them and there are no gales to stall us, so let's go!"

Feeling like ashamed little kids, Robin and Shamus hung their heads and followed the pink petals. Abruptly, the petals dipped down to a forest below. Confused, Robin asked, "Hey, I thought we were flying above a city, what happened to it?"

Amelia tsked, "If you were paying attention, the city's long gone. Though I've never seen this forest before and I know this area like the back of my wing. I'm guessing that we're getting closer to Felinasus."

The foursome dove down to the foliage below, narrowly dodging trees. "Ow, ow, ow, OW!" Amelia winced as branches hit her face.

Erik reassured her, "Just hang in there Amelia," he lowered his head next to hers, "we're almost there."

She rolled her eyes, "And what makes you so sure of that."

He shrugged, "I have no idea, maybe its intuition."

He brought out his cane and started to swing at the oncoming branches to ease her pain.

The petals disappeared behind and tree. Amelia sped up. Past the tree was a spacious clearing with a large white rock in a corner. They hovered for a moment and Amelia shook her head, "No use Erik, we lost the trail."

He sighed signaled her to stop flying. She lowered herself to the ground. Close behind her, came Robin and Shamus. Due to the unexpected stop and his metal leg, Shamus landed incorrectly. Robin tumbled off of his back and somersaulted towards the white rock. He continued to roll and he phased right through it. Being confused, the remaining trio walked toward the rock, staring at it until a head popped out of it. Everyone leapt back in surprise. Robin looked to his friends in excitement, "You guys got to see this."

He withdrew his head back into the rock. Though hesitant at first, Shamus went through first, and then Amelia, until Erik was the last to enter. Cautiously, he placed his foot into the rock. He closed his eyes and held his breath. He placed the other foot in. He kept walking until he felt a cool breeze against his whiskers and unlike the breezes he encountered earlier these had no violent intentions, in fact, it seemed the opposite. He opened his eyes to see himself standing on a large, chess bishop shaped tower. He was thousands of feet in the air. Below was a castle in the same architectural design of St. Basil's Cathedral. Around the castle was a moat with only one bridge. And beyond the moat was a luscious meadow as far as the eye could see. The sun shone from the middle of the sky, strangely leaving no item with a shadow. Robin got down on one knee, placed his elbow on it and announced, "Lady and gentlemen, were-cat and birds, creations of all kind, I give you," he dramatically stretched his arms out wide, "Felinasus!"

* * *

**And they finally arrive in Felinasus. Who ever actually understand what Robin was talking about with the Immelmann Inversion, Raven Turn and Heartline Roll, rollercoaster fans, unite! I'm sorry I haven't posted in fifteen days, my editor/best friend, Marilyn was at camp for a week and I never post anything without her seeing it. Stupid camp, she's so lucky, they get to stay in the Sierras in three story tree houses, the only reason I didn't go was because it was a church camp for devout Christians and I haven't prayed or done anything religious since I was at her house a month ago, so I'm not really devout and I probably can't stand praying six times a day for two weeks (breakfast, before going to do activities, lunch, coming home from activities, dinner, and before going to bed).**

**-splattermusic  
**


	9. Felinasus

**Sorry for not updating for a while, I just got lazy and decided not to work on it for a week or two. I'm also sorry if my chapters are too short and if I'm rushing too much. It seems like I am. Remember, please review, I don't care if it's good or bad, please review!**

**(sighs) The Cat Returns belongs to Ghibli, I own nothing**

* * *

She groaned and groggily sat up. Her back was killing her. She couldn't remember anything. Her mind screamed with pain. She fluttered her eyes open and the first thing she saw was a tan wall. She began to panic as memories rushed back to her. The last thing she saw were flower petals, then a bright light. _"How did I get here?"_

She studied the room she was in a bit more. It was tan—as said before—with simple fish designs painted in random areas. In the corner was a wooden door…with locks. She slumped back and noticed she was lying on a bed. She crossed her legs and bounced once to measure comfy it was. To her surprise, the bed seemed to be made out of straw. Being curious, she looked to the corner of the mattress and ripped a few seams so the stuffing could easily be accessed. She poked a finger inside and hooked out a small, fern like plant, a cattail. _"That's strange, I'm allergic to cattails. Normally I'd be itching like cra—"_

The locks twisted open and someone rapped at the door, "Ms. Kerry, Ms. Kerry," Kerry's eyes opened wide as she realized who owned that voice. Okkuu poked his head into the room, "Oh goody, you're awake!"

Kerry gasped, Okkuu seemed bigger… a lot bigger. He was almost as tall as her, though that did not faze her. She jumped towards him and wrapped her hands around his neck, "This is all your fault, where am I? Where are Artemis, and Douloureux? Answer me!"

"Um, I don't think he can answer you, he's choking," Kerry looked over to see a light grey kitten. She was about as tall as her, though not quite as tall. Her eyes were small and the color of a rich dark chocolate and she wore a blue bandana around her neck, "You should let him go, then you'll have your answers."

Kerry stared at her, _"Have I seen this cat before?"_

The cat flicked her paw forward beckoning Kerry to follow her advice, "Go ahead. But if you don't want to listen to my advice, then fine by me. He was quite annoying and such a bad assistant. Tsk, tsk, tsk, maybe Felinasus is better off without him. But please let him go, murder is such a terrible sin."

Kerry looked at Okkuu. His mouth opened and closed like a fake aquarium clam. His eyes began to roll to the back of his head. Kerry gazed at the smoky cat, "Who are you? You seem so familiar."

The female feline looked out to the window in a distant stare, "Well…"

Okkuu deeply inhaled and hacked out a fur ball. The grey feline scrunched her face up in disgust, "Really, Okkuu? Do you have to do that right here? That's disgusting."

Kerry inquired, "Wait a minute why is that disgusting to you? Don't all cats cough up fur balls?"

"Don't all humans barf?" She retorted.

Kerry smiled, "Touché," she frowned, "now can you tell who you are? And am I really in Felinasus?"

The grey cat nodded, "Yeah that would explain the talking cats being as big as you." She stuck out a paw, "My name's Mitzi."

Kerry took her paw and slowly shook it. She darted her attention back to Okkuu, "Okay, you little hair-ball, you better tell me where the hell Artemis and Douloureux are!"

The clueless cat tapped his chin, "Hmm, Artemis… Doughlorow—"

"It's Douloureux!" Kerry corrected.

Okkuu huffed, "Fine, _Douloureux_; I've never heard of them."

Being determined, Kerry kept asking, "You know, the woman and cat that you guys kidnapped too? Where are they?"

Okkuu widened his eyes, "Oh! I remember! You're talking about the human who's hard to understand and the fat cat."

She ignored the insults, "Yes, now tell me where they are!"

Okkuu shook his head, "Uh-uh, can't tell you that, direct orders from the king." His ears perked up from the usual floppy position, "I forgot to mention, the king sent me here to take you to the throne room."

He grabbed her arm and dragged her past Mitzi. Kerry shot her a pleading look. Mitzi grinned, "Try not to lose yourself; Felinasus is an easy place to get lost in. I'll see you at the party!"

"Wait!" Kerry yelped as she was dragged down a flight of stairs, "What party?"

* * *

The jail was grey, black, wet and pessimistic. It shared no resemblance to the castle above it. It made even the most cheerful being a cynic. The stone walls absorbed hope like a sponge. Each cell had a bed of straw and a shallow hole filled with sand. Any cat in the right mind would go insane after a few months. Any cats that weren't would grow to be an empty vacuum. Jailers were given leftover food from the trash, mostly mice heads and tails. Milk was a luxury they were never allowed to taste again, every day; they were given stale water served in bowls with algae on the side. Despite the fact that many of the prisoners have lost the will to live, none have died naturally. It had everything a cat needed to live: food, water, a bed, and even a place to do their business, though not all of the tenants were cats.

"LET ME OUT OF THIS RAT HOLE OR I'LL SWEAR, I'LL CHOP ALL YOUR HEADS OFF AND MOUNT THEM ON MY WALL!" Artemis pounded her fists at the metal door.

The guard cat chuckled at her and sat up straight from his wooden chair. He turned to his slumbering neighbor, "Can you believe this chick?" he was still sleeping. The guard swished his tail from behind his stool, "I said 'CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS CHICK!"

The resting cat opened one eye, "Huh?" he stretched his limbs forward and smacked his lips, "I'm sorry guard, my straw bed was so comfortable, I wasn't paying attention to what you saying. And this stone floor is so warm, I slept like a kitten." He closed his eyes and curled in a ball to resume his sleep.

The guard rolled his eyes, "Well there's no need for your sarcasm, and you," he looked at Artemis who was still banging against the wall, "need to learn a few lessons in manners."

Furiously, Artemis pointed at herself, "Me? Right when I got here, I was knocked out cold and when I woke up, I found me and my friend gagged and my client nowhere to be seen!"

He crossed his arms, "Well I guess that's what happens when you illegally trespass into a kingdom."

She became even more frustrated, "I did not trespass! I was kidnapped!"

The guard shrugged his shoulders, "Hey, whatever you call it, I still see it as going somewhere you're not wanted." He pointed to the rat head in her cell, "Now eat your lunch."

Artemis huffed and dropped to the floor. She pinched the rat by its ear and brought it up to her face. She muttered, "And whatever you call this, I still see it as cruel and unusual punishment. The only meat on this thing is the brain and you have to break through the skull to get it, it's also smaller than a walnut so it's probably not worth the trouble."

She sighed and looked to the corner where Douloureux sat hunched over. He silently argued with himself, murmuring plans and strategies. Artemis crawled over to him and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Shh!" Douloureux looked around and looked at Artemis, "Do you still have your bugle?"

She scoffed, "It was in my quiver and they took that remember?" Douloureux disappointedly lowered his head. Artemis grinned, "But," she reached into her vest and brought out a metal tube, "I do have my mouthpiece, why do you ask?"

Douloureux silently laughed, "I have a plan," he pointed to the guard who was currently playing with loose string from his uniform, "and it involves taking him out."

Artemis smirked and punched her fist into her other hand, "I like this plan already."

* * *

The staircase seemed to go on forever. It seemed to Kerry that she had spent days running down the stone steps towards the black hole in the distance only to find more darkness with every step. She sprinted down the spiral stairs, though not too fast for she was careful to not bump into her irritating tour guide. Kerry looked at the walls around her. Unlike the room she had woken up in and the hallway where she had met Mitzi, this place had an aura of unwelcoming. The bricks were black and the entire area was reminisced of a medieval stairway, leading to a dungeon. _"Maybe they couldn't fit enough painters in here to paint the whole thing," _Kerry thought, rapidly realizing how claustrophobic the tight space made her feel. She looked down for a second to shiver and a bright light overtook her vision.

Kerry grunted and instinctively raised her hands to her eyes. Okkuu relieved his grip on her hand. Kerry rubbed her eyes and opened them. She gasped; she was now standing a room that could easily be fifteen times bigger than her house. At the end of the room were two giant thrones, one slightly bigger than the other. The bigger one held a long-haired cat with a marble, brown and white swirl on its fur. He was the Cat King.

He broadly grinned, "Welcome Kerry," his voice echoed throughout the area, "I'm glad you could come." He hopped off the throne and gestured to a table and two chairs in front of the throne; the table was cloaked with a table cloth and had two plates of food, two goblets of water, and a candle, "Why don't you have a seat?"

Kerry walked on in silence. Her footsteps clicked with every stride. She rotated her head from side to side to get a good look at the cats around her. Many were giving her strange looks; some were whispering to others, all were staring. Kerry finally reached the table and King Shinneri pulled a chair out for her. He gestured for everyone to leave. Kerry and Shinneri sat down. She stared at him. He sighed, "What's wrong?"

She inquired, "Why are you doing this?"

"Well," he said, stabbing the fish on his plate with a fork, "I ought to be acquainted with the woman I'm going to marry."

Kerry stretched her arms out and shook her hands, "I'm sorry, you're nice and all, but I didn't agree to get married."

He frowned, "But Okkuu told me you agreed. Hm, remind me to get him later."

"But I couldn't have married you anyways," Kerry stated, "You're way too old for me…no offense."

"None taken," Shinneri assured, "And chronologically, I'm way too old for you, biologically, I'm only a couple of years older than you."

Kerry grew desperate, she had to find a way out of this marriage, "But I'm not a cat, I'm human, I can't marry you."

He laughed and patted her hand, "Don't worry about that." Her throat suddenly dried and she reached for the goblet next to her plate and sipped. Her eyes widened as she dropped her chalice. She got up from her seat and stared at her hand, it had been replaced with a furry, white cat paw.

* * *

After discussing the plan of escape, Artemis sat on the bed on straw, twirling one piece of the bedding through her fingers. She closed her eyes to rest until she was suddenly disrupted by a strange voice.

"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?"

Artemis looked around, "Who said that?" She scoped the jail, the guard, Douloureux and all visible prisoners were asleep.

"Scaramouch! Scaramouch, do the fandango!"

"Who's there?" she asked.

"I see a little silhouette of a… human? Now what is a human doing here?"

"I was kidnapped," Artemis answered, still searching for the voice's origin, "and I'm not a human."

"You're not? Let me guess, you are a creation!"

"How did you guess? And where are you?" she asked once more.

"Well, things aren't always what they seem, like the Cat Prince! And I am hiding in a hole." He answered.

Artemis began scouring the cell for a hole and continued the conversation, "What do you mean the Cat Prince isn't what he seems?"

He laughed maniacally, "I was once a master luthier. One mistake, I did, made the strings too tight. They snapped and whipped across his arm. Prince Shinneri was a nice lad, he was. I thought he would forgive me. He didn't. To make sure I never made the same mistake, he locked me in here and I was given the mark of a failure…"

Artemis put the side of her face to the floor. She continued searching this way until she found a small hole, about the size of both of her fists, leading to another cell. She looked through, to find an emaciated, grey cat with extremely matted fur and a dazed look upon his face. Though Artemis realized one thing… "and the prince cut off my hands!"

She shook her head, "But isn't Shinneri the king?"

"Really? When I was thrown in here, he was a prince."

"How long have you been in here?"

"How many years have Shinneri been king?"

"Around thirty,"

"Forty years." He laughed and muttered, "Any way the wind blows, nothing really matters to me."

* * *

**There it is, remember, review! Or favorite, anything's fine.**

**Bohemian Rhapsody belongs to Queen, I do not own any song**

**-splattermusic**


	10. A note from the author

Okay, I'm saying sorry to everyone who is currently reading and enjoying this story. I don't know what to do next and I'm really sorry. I've decided to put the story on hold until I can find the inspiration to write it once more. Currently, I'm working on another story, though it is not put up yet. To the very few people who favorited or reviewed my story, thank you. I truly appreciate it. Hopefully, no one will miss this story. It wasn't that good anyways.

-splattermusic


	11. Another note from the author: Sketches

Okay, I'm saying sorry to everyone who is currently reading and enjoying this story. I don't know what to do next and I'm really sorry. I've decided to put the story on hold until I can find the inspiration to write it once more. Currently, I'm working on another story, though it is not put up yet. To the very few people who favorited or reviewed my story, thank you. I truly appreciate it. Hopefully, no one will miss this story. It wasn't that good anyways.

-splattermusic


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